| Set up an army camp to secure life of people, defeat subversives | | Sense of insecurity grips Rassana | |
Early Times Report
hiranagar, Apr 23: Rassana village in Hiranagar, Kathua district, is a huge huge forest area. It runs into hundreds of square kilometers. Rassana is the only village in this forest area. It is highly strategic. It is located near international border and in a tehsil, which witnessed many deadly terror attacks, including the attack on Hiranagar Police Station. It is a village of just 13 families, all Hindus. The total number of Hindus living in Rassana village is less than 70. These days, the village wears a deserted look, as all of them have migrated to nearby Kootah for safety and where Rassana women have been sitting on fast-unto-death almost since 4 weeks demanding CBI probe into the alleged rape and murder case.
It was at Rassana that the alleged crime took place that created a sort of furore across the country with Indian political class, national media, Kashmiri leaders, human rights activities and so on demanding instant death for the accused and the people of Jammu in general and of Kathua and Samba in particular demanding CBI probe.
Meet anyone at Kootah, where women are sitting on fast-unto-death, and male folk sitting on dharna and interact with anyone of them. He/she would say "Muslim girl for them was like a Devi as the Hindus consider all the girls below 12 as Devis". He/she would demand capital punishment for the real culprit and would also say "kill those arrested by the police on the charge that they committed heinous crime but hold CBI probe before that".
The demand for a CBI probe constitutes just one part of the story. The other part of the story is the sense of insecurity that has gripped the people of Rassana. "Anything can happen to us," says Kamla Devi (name changed), adding that "subversives could attack our village and kill us to establish a foothold in the forest area for conducting anti-India operations".
"People with doubtful credentials want to grab the forest area so that they could conduct anti-India operations freely and with utmost ease," says another woman from Rassana, Rajni Sharma (name changed). It is important to note that the most male members of Rassana village work at Bombay Dockyard.
The same view is echoed by men from Rassana. Milkhi Ram (name changed" said: "Believe me, if not today, tomorrow the village will witness a terror attack, as pro-Pakistan elements want to capture this forest area", adding that "time has come to not only secure our life but set up an Army Camp in the area so that the ulterior moves of anti-nationals were defeated and evil nipped in the bud".
One can only hope that the authorities in the state and at the Centre would take cognizance of the people's apprehensions and fears and take appropriate steps to secure the sensitive and strategic forest area and the life of the 70-odd members of the minority community. |
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