JAMMU, JUNE 12: It's part of life along the border: The daily bursts of fire from the other side. In the areas around Suchetgarh in the R S Pura sector, even in these days of tension over Kargil, one can see cattle grazing and farmers working in the Pakistani fields along the zero line. The Indian fields, however, are desolate; the Pakistani villagers don't seem to have any fear of unprovoked firing by the Indian troops. Ask the BSF jawans why they don't resort to the tactics their Pakistani counterparts do and the reply is the same. ``You are also an Indian. How much compassion do you have in your heart?''The words seem to sum up the Indian approach to life, death and war. And there's no better place to experience this than on the border. Firing in the villages normally follows a pattern. The first bursts mostly come from the other side, say the villagers, and then the Indian forces react. Among other reasons, the firing could be on suspicion of the other side raising pickets in the guise of structuresfor tube-wells. Sometimes, red flags are raised minutes before as a warning to villagers.
Understandably, the firing has created heavy disruptions in the villagers' lives. In fact, some tube-wells close to the zero line in Suchetgarh have not been switched off for the past fortnight as the villagers are scared of going there. This has led to flooding in the fields. The threat of firing has also stopped buses from plying.
There is an informal curfew every dusk to dawn. The villagers may not get jobs or be able to work their fields but they have one constant task to perform: Escaping from bullets.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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