Special nakas, loudspeaker alerts have Punjab border villages on edge

Hushed-up voices echo across the fields near the International Border in Punjab as villagers make quiet preparations amid simmering tensions between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

As the security forces make additional deployment, the villagers have been noticing a few unusual signals: elders being summoned by security forces to know the lists of motor owners, inquiries made about ditch-cum-bund readiness and loudspeaker warnings urging the residents to harvest early and remain alert.

The ditch-cum-bunds are defensive structures along the border that comprise high earthen embankments along with a parallel moat that can be filled up with water to form obstacles for the advancing enemy. Manjinder Singh Manna, a resident of a border village in Tarn Taran, said he had been asked to provide a list of persons owning motors.

Some see this as a script reminiscent of the mobilisation during the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan, and the 2001-02 Operation Parakram that was launched in the aftermath of the terror attack on Parliament.

Subedar Charan Singh (retd), a Kirti Chakra recipient and a witness to the previous India-Pakistan conflicts, said, “People here have seen it in the past and are mentally prepared this time too. Whatever the cost, we will defend the country.”

In Gurdaspur, announcements are learnt to have been made in several border villages by the elders asking everyone to remain vigilant. A youth said the elders, however, were tight-lipped when asked about any interaction with the security agencies.

In a video purportedly recorded in Chauntra village of Gurdaspur, an elderly person is heard making a public announcement on loudspeaker, urging the residents to stay alert. “I request all the residents to remain vigilant. Harvest all your crops at the earliest. Inform the BSF or the police if you notice any suspicious activity,” he said. Dorangla SHO Davinder Singh, however, said the police were not aware about any such announcement, and that the locals may have acted on their own.

Ferozepur SSP Bhupinder Singh said 18 new nakas had been set up and 180 additional police personnel deployed. “The situation is under control and these are only precautionary measures,” he said.

Fazilka SSP Varinder Singh Brar said 22 new checkpoints had been erected. Tarn Taran SSP Abhimanyu Rana said 60 additional nakas, including 20 close to the border, had been set up.

(With inputs from Anirudh Gupta, Gurbax Puri and Praful Chandra Nagpal)