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| Renewed border hostilities put frontier farmers in quagmire | | Border residents feeling the heat as situation almost returns to pre-2003-ceasefire era | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Jan 23: Following regular incidents of firing and infiltration attempts from the across the fencing and sometimes retaliation from this side of International Border and Line of Control (LoC), the hapless border residents have virtually stopped farming.
It is pertinent to mention here that most of families residing near border hamlets are dependent upon the agriculture which is the only source of their livelihood. For some, there are apprehensions of reemergence pre-November 2003 situation when the borders were tense as forces of both the countries were eyeball to eyeball contact amid exchange of heavy fire.
At least 10 incidents of ceasefire violations have been reported, so far, in the first month of the year that has literally thrown normal life of thousands of border residents out of gear. Following the incidents, the farming community has stopped farming in their fields, which are close to fence.
Be it blazing fire near the LoC in Poonch district or heavy firing near International Border in Samba, the inhabitants are feeling the heat and recalling the horrors of the days of pre-ceasefire.
Prithpal Singh who has about 1000 kanals of land beyond the fence near Samba, has stopped farming.
“For me and my family, every night we live in uncertainty. Few months ago, one Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF got killed in an IED, blast. The next day we came to know through newspapers that militants had managed to sneak in towards this side of International Border and had managed to return after planting the IED,” narrated Prithpal Singh and expressed “if such movement is happening near fencing, I don’t want to see me or my family members to fall prey of bullets.”
India and Pakistan had signed the ceasefire agreement in November 2003, but prior to that due to heavy border firing more that 60,000 residents had been displaced.
Even since 2003, the ceasefire has been violated over 129 times. In this month alone, over 10 incidents of firing and violations have taken place.
“I lost my house to shelling in the year 2000. Now after witnessing and hearing gunshots and heavy exchange of firing after short intervals, the same fear has returned,” shared another border resident Kanta Devi. “When will it (firing) end so that we can live peacefully?” she questioned.
INCIDENTS THIS YEAR
• January 3: Unsuccessful infiltration attempt was made from Samba.
• January 9: BSF foiled another bid from Pargwal in Akhnoor sector.
• January 11: BSF post at Gajansoo area of Kanachak fired at.
• January 16: Firing at Gigriyal, Akhnoor.
• January 17: Firing at Akhnoor, fence damaged.
• January 18: Pakistani troops fired five rockets and opened small arms firing on the forward Kranti post along the LoC in Krishnagati sub-sector of Poonch.
• January 18: Two incidents of firing at RS Pura and Akhnoor sectors.
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