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At the zero line of our international border with Pakistan in the RS Pura sector of Jammu and Kashmir, an old banyan tree stands tall near the Octroi Border Outpost — which used to be a tax collection centre before the country was partitioned. The road here, as well as rail connectivity with Sialkot in Pakistan, hardly 11 km away, was also snapped.
Anchored in hopeless resignation, the silent sentinel — the banyan has been witness to warfare and relatively peace times — symbolises the lives of the villagers settled along the border.
For want of alternative and sustainable livelihood opportunities, many of these residents — mostly farmers — remain rooted here despite the ever-present danger of border tensions following India’s surgical strikes across the LoC. Amid intermittent shell explosions and shootings, farmers scramble to harvest paddy and worry about delayed rabi crop sowing.
Till the next bullet
Whenever there are exploding shells and whizzing bullets from across the border, thoughts of relocating start to swarm the mind of 85-year-old Indro Devi, a resident of village Sai Khurd. As the guns fall silent, her security concerns quickly meld into the routine worries of daily life, until the next blast or volley of bullets shatter the fragile peace in the village again. The octogenarian’s tale mirrors that of nearly every family in these parts: “We can’t sell our lands or mortgage it with banks to settle elsewhere.”
Her family was among thousands displaced by successive wars between India and Pakistan, and settled by the government along the international border from Kathua to Akhnoor, on land left behind by Muslims who migrated to Pakistan in 1947.
Since J&K enjoys special constitutional status under Article 370, the displaced people who were settled here could not get the benefits that those who settled in neighbouring Punjab or others States got.
In August last year, a Pakistani shell that exploded in Indro’s courtyard left both her daughters-in-law dead and both sons invalid. One of her grandchildren walks with a limp now. “Due to fear psychosis, labourers are reluctant to work on our farms this year. It has compounded our problems,” says her younger son Subhash Chander.
Living in conflict
About 2.15 lakh families were affected by the border conflict on the LoC and the international border in J&K over the past four years, according to a State government report sent to the Centre.
Villagers say that after the Kargil war, the fertile agricultural land has become dotted with guard towers, barbed wires, security checkpoints, fall gates, barriers, ditch-cum-bunds and landmines.
The enhanced militarisation has not only encroached upon farmlands but also restricted access to them and other natural resources. “Many villagers have their farms across the border fence and the Army isn’t permitting them to harvest their crop. Wild animals have started damaging the standing crops, and the farmers are additionally worried that they cannot cultivate the land during the ongoing rabi crop season,” says Sukhdev Sharma, sarpanch of Sainth panchayat, which sits on the international border in the Jourian area of Akhnoor sector.
Recently, two persons were killed, many others injured and a lot of livestock was lost in the area, he says. “During the daytime we harvest paddy and tend cattle, while in the evening we go to the makeshift camps set up by philanthropic organisations and the local administration in government schools. Life in such camps is quite harsh. We have to sleep on the ground this winter,” he says, adding, “despite promises by political parties and the government, border residents never get monetary compensation for loss of crops, homes and livestock. Even the injured don’t get adequate compensation for medical treatment.”
“In our area, after the Kargil war, the government provided 5-marla plots (around 272 sq ft) to border residents at a safer location and a financial assistance of ₹50,000. The amount was not enough to construct homes or create livelihood opportunities,” he laments, adding, “we are farmers and can’t stay away from our land and livestock for long.”
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Jammu
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