The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, January 2, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Residents flee Fazilka villages
Raj Sadosh

Indian border villagers carry their belongings on a cart in Ratangarh village, Punjab, on Tuesday.
— Reuters photo

Abohar, January 1
Only a few left out residents of villages located between the drain and the international border in Hindumalkot and Fazilka sectors, opposite to Bahawalpur and Sulemanki sectors of Pakistan, take shelter in the villages considered to be safer after sunset on this side of the drain. The villagers had shifted their domestic goods to safer villages of their relatives.

Newspersons accompanying INLD state president Aad Lal Jakhar on a day-long tour of affected areas found more and more people on their way shifting even items like table fans, briefcases, bedding, pipes of the tube-wells after taking away head of cattle.

Mr Jakhar visited border villages, including Kheowali, Bareka, Roopnagar, Siwana, Kabulshah Hithad and Jhugelal Singh. Residents of the border areas were now staying in Dalit dharamshalas even at far-off villages like Panjkosi besides Azamwala, Kabulshah Khubban, Khippanwali. But majority of them were camping near link roads and railway line.

Ranjha Ram of Chananwala village was taking back his wife and a son himself pulling a rickshaw which carried few beds and other domestic goods. He said he failed to earn money for the past five days at Azamwala village. He was forced by the circumstances to return to his home village and would stay there come what may.

At Kerianwala village, exserviceman Devi Lal and a Jat resident, Ashok Kumar, said residents of the adjoining village had parked their two-wheelers in a spacious room vacated due to the shifting of cattle so that they could use these in the event of a war. All those present there vowed to help the forces, with weapons.

Khanpur, which had been completely destroyed by the enemies in 1971 aggression, had a population of 1,000 persons but the visiting team found only about 24 males on Monday. Ashok Kumar, Sarpanch, and Prithvi Singh Thakur, narrating the problems faced by residents of the border areas said the PSEB had not fulfilled their demand of the three-phase supply during day hours for irrigation. it was not possible to irrigate fields after sunset.

The Army wanted the villagers to harvest their crop swiftly, but the Fazilka Co-operative Sugar Mills refused to give priority to them and were told to wait for their turn at least for three days. Mr Jakhar said he had talked to Managing Director of the sugar mills, but in vain. SDM S.K. Singla also tried to persuade the Managing Director but he was told that sanction would be sought from Chandigarh.

Mr Jakhar tried to contact the Deputy Commissioner on phone from Khanpur village but could not succeed. He was told by the residents that the STD was not in order for the past three months. The telecom authorities had not allegedly bothered to solve the problem.

A majority of the SCs and BCs families from Khanpur village and other villages had shifted to Chananwala village. Only a woman of the upper caste was seen working there. Chananwala village is located at the Fazilka-Sakharwala rail link which had been abandoned after August 15, 1947. Residents of the village too expressed anguish over the apathy of the civil authorities but praised jawans.

Later, Mr Jakhar was told by the Deputy Commissioner S.R. Ladhar that the Managing Director, Sugarfed, had been apprised of the problem of the sugarcane growers of the border areas. Mr Ladhar assured that affected farmers would be given priority in buying sugarcane. Mr Jakhar made repeated efforts to contact the officers of the PSEB on phone to draw their attention to genuine complaints of the consumers of the area but none of them was available. The matter was now being taken up with the Chairman of the PSEB, Mr Jakhar said.

Mr Bhim Sain Jat, state secretary, and Mr Sehdev Sharma, district president of the INLD, suggested that only those who dared to stay back in their towns or villages should be enrolled as members of the civil defence committees.

Meanwhile a meeting of the Punjabi Sabhyachar Manch was organised at Gurdwara Singh Sabha here on Monday. Mr Jagat Verma, Mr Jagdish Kucheria and Mr Gurcharan Singh Gill emphasised the need for arranging camps to educate the youth about civil defence. The youth expressed their solidarity with the security forces.