Jamu, May 10 -- A day after surviving intense Pakistan shelling, 68-year-old Pradeep Khanna, a retired education department official, says it is the geographical location of Poonch, close to the Line of Control (LoC) that makes it vulnerable to Pakistan shelling.

Khanna is uniquely placed to delve into the details of Poonch, having lives through two India-Pakistan wars (1965 and 1971) while being in this town.

He adds the situation worsened further after the Tashkent Agreement of 1966, when India gave away the Hajipir Pass to Pakistan.

The district across 1,674 sqkm has a population of nearly five lakh.

"Poonch city alone has over one lakh population and has Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost equal proportion. However, Muslims remain...