Kache Dhanoae (Indo-Pak Border), September 12
Even as India has lodged a strong protest with Pakistan over last night’s firing of around six rockets from the Pakistani side into Indian territory, residents of border villages apprehend even worse in the near future.

Acting on the directions of the BSF IG (Punjab Frontier) Himmat Singh, Battalion Commandant HS Dhillon held a flag meeting with his Pakistani counterpart, Wing Commander Butt, on Zreo Line at Attari today. The meeting, which took off at around 1 am, lasted for a couple of minutes. The BSF warned that any such activity would not be tolerated in the future. After the rockets fired from the Pakistani side landed in fields of Kache Dhanoae, Rattan Kalan and Modhe villages, the BSF troops deployed in the Pul Kanjri area retaliated immediately by firing “warning shots” from their machine guns.

“We have lodged our protest with them,” said BSF DIG Jagir Singh.

Meanwhile, the number of rockets found from border villages has gone up from three to six, sources said, adding that the BSF was examining the shells to determine the place of their origin.

Meanwhile, the villagers living in border areas apprehend a Kargil-like situation when fields on the entire border strip were carpeted with mines as a precautionary measure. A number of farmers and labourers had been injured in mine accidents.

Though, there was no loss of life in last night’s shelling, farmers, whose fields are on the other side of the fencing, are even more scared. They are not ready to go to their farms unless they are provided with adequate security. Almost every village on the Punjab frontier, it was learnt, was having roughly around 300 acres beyond the barbed wire fencing. Earlier, at least six rockets had been fired from the Pakistani side into the Indian fields situated close to border in two months.

Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer of Dhanoae village, said: “The government should ensure our safety and security”. Similarly, Paramjit Singh, having a piece of land beyond the barbed wire, asked how they would reap their paddy crop in the midst of tension on border. “It was a risky business so far. Now, farming across the wire has turned dangerous,” he said.

BSF DIG Jagir Singh and other officials have assured farmers that everything possible would be done to ensure safety and security of people on border.