Find ways to silence Pak guns: Border residents
Sumit Hakhoo
Tribune News Service
Arnia, October 10
Loud claims by the BJP about teaching Pakistan a lesson in cross-border shelling on the International Border and Line of Control (LoC) has not brought any respite, say border dwellers, who have to regularly suffer mortar shelling.
While the government has announced that community and individual bunkers will be constructed in the border areas, residents feel that they have been abandoned by the PDP-BJP coalition government and NDA-led government in New Delhi.
Border shelling victims whose property was damaged have not been paid compensation since 2014. Only the next of kin of civilians who died due to shelling have received Rs 1 lakh.
Although there is a relative calm along the International Border in Jammu since September 29 following a flag meeting between the Border Security Force (BSF) led by DIG (Jammu sector) PS Dhiman and Sector Commander, Pakistan Chenab Rangers (Sialkote), Brig Amjad Hussain in the Suchetgarh sector, residents remain tense as they know when the guns go off, the entire RS Pura sector turns into a war zone, overshadowing the rhetoric of politicians.
“There are reports of 4,700 community and 19,000 individual bunkers being constructed, but bunkers will not solve our problem. The issue is how long inhabitants will be targeted by Pakistani guns,” said Shanker Chand, a shopkeeper in the main market of Arnia town frequently targeted by mortar shells fired from across the border.
Due to the disturbances, developmental works especially under Border Area Development Programme (BADP) have come to a standstill. School construction under the RMSA too has suffered due to regular disturbances. Nearly 8,000 kanals under Basmati crop remain under the shadow of enemy guns.
“There is a pattern in firing since 2014. September, October and November - harvesting period for Basmati – are chosen to target villages,” said Suraj Singh Chib, a resident of forward village in the RS Pura sector.
Those in power live far away from the killing fields of International Border and LoC, a legacy left out by partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947 but none of them have any long-term solution to end the misery of lakhs of people who are suffering due to terrorism unleashed by Pakistan and its supporters in J&K.
“We cannot leave this place as most of the families are engaged in farming or small trades and poverty is widespread. Find way to silence Pak guns permanently. When firing starts people do not get time to reach underground shelter,” said Ankush Sharma, a college student.
