Gurdaspur Diary: A letter from border area farmers to Union Govt

Farmers in the border area having their agricultural land between the barbered wire fencing and the Zero Line have in a letter to the Union Government appealed to resolve their current problems or purchase their land to free them of their problems. The farmers said that the rays of the flash and radar lights installed on the border to keep vigil on activities of the enemy were harmful for the crops and affecting the growth of crop seeds in a radius of 100 meter from the lights. In this radius, the seeds do not grow. “The domestic animals from the Pakistan side destroys crops for which a 3-feet barbed wire be installed near the border to prevent the loss,” stressed farmers in the letter. In areas where the farmers are unable to cultivate traditional crops like wheat and paddy due to contaminated water, farmers be allowed to grow crops like sarson (mustard), the letter stressed. The farmers said that as a proper path to the fields was not considered during the installing of the fence and had been blocked by the fencing, farmer had to face hardships in reaching their land. The farmers were facing an acute shortage of water for irrigation and stressed that the canal water too should reach across the fencing and that more new tube well connections be given or tube wells operated by the solar system be given on subsidy. There should be uniformity in timings to facilitate carting of agricultural equipment across the fencing which was at present as per the orders of the company commander/platoon commander of the BSF and due to this, farmers faced harassment on a daily basis. The farmers had demanded that all the gates be opened daily to make entry easy for the farmers to their land, as more than 70 gates of a total of 500 gates installed in the state were seen closed ever since their installation. The farmers also had demanded arrangements for extinguishing a fire outbreak and a fire brigade lorry for each BSF battalion during the wheat cultivation season. There was a total of about 21,600 acres of land in six border districts. Raghbir Singh Bhangala and Surjit Singh Bhura, leaders of the Punjab Border Area Kisan Union, said the letter is addressed to Bisweshwar Tudu, Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs, Government of India.

16-yr-old Role model for youngsters

Harman Singh (16), a student of ninth standard, studying in a normal rural area school in Khadoor Sahib is proving to be a role model for the youngsters. He belongs to a poor family as his father is a daily wage earner and mother a homemaker. When he was in sixth standard and there was the Covid-19 outbreak, he made full use of his spare time and was attracted towards art and craft in paper and cardboard work. He had made models of different gurdwaras of Khadoor Sahib and other religious, historic places, saints and prominent personalities. He has received no coaching from anyone and all his art work is based on his own feelings and emotions. He has more than 40 creations till now. In less than two months, he has been given space in more than 20 different print, online papers and TV channels. His miniatures (creations) attract many. He wanted to touch the extreme in the field of arts and craft. He said he never wastes his precious time on mobile games etc or wandering aimlessly. He remains busy and tries to enrich his knowledge.

Contributed by Gurbaxpuri

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