TISSA (CHAMBA), Aug 5: Peace and communal amity were the only assets of this remotest Chuhar Valley of Chamba District housing the poorest-of-the-poor of Himachal having depressing background of illiteracy, backwardness and unawareness. But, Monday's brutal terrorist attack here has robbed the valley of its only assets.The quiet and simple people of Tissa block are worked up. They link the unprecedented killing to the presence of Muslim populace in the area, especially the Muslim Gujjar nomads. The nomads, they allege, acted as information couriers for the militants on the other side of the Chamba border, about 15 km from the last police post of Himachal, Mansa, in this part of the state.The people are fear-stricken. And the greenery of the hills of Satrundi, Shingdadhar and Jyot area which used to be give them their bread and butter, now frightens them for the mere thought that the terrorists had been using it as a hide-out. ``For the past three days, hundreds of villagers living uphill Tarela have been coming down in the evening, assembling in a closed corner and spending the night together, sitting all through,'' said a resident, Subhash.He is afraid that this temporary migration may take a permanent form under the present circumstances when the villagers of about a dozen panchayats around Kalaban area had lost faith in the police. They feel let down by the administration too who failed to provide adequate security in the belt bordering Jammu and Kashmir despite a tip-off from some herb-collectors of Mangli village just four days before the massacre.The rift in the two communities, with Hindus having a majority, has become quite evident with the latter alleging that the Gujjars (who normally throng the Tissa hills in summer in search of greener pastures) provided shelter to the militants and fed them with ration purchased from Tissa villages. ``It is the handy work of the nomadic groups in the area with Muslims helping the militants trace members of the Hindu community,'' commented an ex-pradhan of Seikolhi panchayat, Karam Singh. The particular panchayat had lost ten bread earners in the bloody carnage, while one Dev Raj was kidnapped by militants from the labour camp in Kalaban.Tissa block was drowned with agony today with cremations taking place in different panchayats, simultaneously. Most heart-rending sight was in Seikothi crematorium where 10 pyres were lit together. Chamba administration and the police have denied that they were informed by Tissa locals about the movement of terrorists in the area. Meanwhile, shops remained closed in Chamba today to mourn the tragedy.
