Army personnel comb Sheikhu Chak village in the Suchetgarh sector on Tuesday after locals reported suspicious movement in the area. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Suchetgarh, October 4

In the wake of escalating cross-border tension, villagers in forward areas in the Suchetgarh sector, 27km from Jammu, are living a life of uncertainty as about 8,000 kanals under basmati crop is under the shadow of Pakistani guns.The land falls near the fence erected by the government and some of it goes beyond the concertina wires for keeping the infiltrators away. Though the guns are still silent in the RS Pura-Suchetgarh belt yet the fear of losing their crop near the border is giving sleepless nights to people who do not wish to leave their homes despite the evacuation order issued by the government following the heightened tension on the international border and the Line of Control after the Uri terror attack on September 18 and the retaliation by India in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on September 29.Despite the fear of Pakistani small arms and mortar fire, villagers could be seen working in fields in the hope that restraint shown by military commanders from both sides would hold till farmers harvested their prized basmati crop.“This entire belt onwards till the Pakistani side is known for the world-famous basmati and harvesting is still a month away. There is a lot of anxiety among the people about what will happen to the crop if the shelling resumes,” said Mohinder Kumar, a resident of a border village in Suchetgarh. His village is just 500 metres from the international border and sentry towers of the Pakistan Rangers are visible from his fields.The villagers’ concern has grown as Pakistani guns are booming in the Pagarwal sector in Akhnoor, forcing thousands to leave their homes and crops behind to take shelter in makeshift camps established by the government in educational institutions.The border residents here are aware that shelling in the past has left several people dead and injured. “Life is very short here. A few years ago, a young boy, grazing his cattle, was killed after he became a victim of sniper fire from across the border. Death lurks everywhere and during tension on the border, our miseries increase”, said Shamshir Singh while cutting grass for his cattle.People in border villages in Jammu have always lived on the edge as they come in the first line of attack during cross-border shelling. During the Kargil war of 1999, hundreds of kanals of prime land was taken over by the Army to lay mines, leaving thousands of farmers without livelihood. 

Alert villagers help in search op

• Suchetgarh: Army and police personnel started scanning paddy fields near a village about one km from the border in Suchetgarh on Tuesday morning after a woman saw a suspicious person. Rakesh Singh, a farmer, joined the operation. He remained with the Army and police throughout the day. Though the search did not yield anything, it highlighted the alertness and cooperation of villagers.