A river runs through it, cleaving the village between India on one side of the gushing waters and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the other. If Operation Sindoor has a ground zero, it is Simari, where the sound of artillery fire still echoes for villagers trying to shake off memories from that night one year ago.
It is from this frontier village surrounded by high mountains that the Army fired shells across the Krishan Ganga river to signal the start of Operation Sindoor on the intervening night of May 6-7, 2025, India’s response to the terror attack in Pahalgam to dismantle terror outlets in Pakistan.
One year on, silence seems to have settled over the picturesque hamlet on the foothills of the Shamshabari mountains in the Tangdhar sector, about 180 km from Srinagar. Life has resumed its everyday routine, but outsiders are met with quiet and a certain distrust. Many walk away, saying they only understand Pahari.
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Simari, at the literal edge of the country, has a population of 500 and just about 80 houses. There are a dozen or so modern concrete structures alongside traditional mud and timber dwellings. If it were not for the roaring river waters, people from one side to the other could literally shout out to be heard.
