Girls with guns

The constables are always deployed in pairs—one patrols along the barbed fence while the other keeps an eye on the area from a 25-foot-tall tower called the observation post. Nirmaljit climbs the cast-iron stairs leading to a box where she would observe movement on the ground for the first half of duty.

“My first job is to check whether the binoculars are working properly. Having done that,I keep a continuous vigil in the area. Any suspicious movement is immediately reported to the company commander stationed at the border outpost. I also record that movement in a log book with time and description,” says Nirmaljit,who hails from Sedha Singh Wala village in Faridkot district. Her father is a veterinary doctor. She joined the BSF after her brother could not make it as he failed in the physical test. “I feel proud to guard the borders of my country. I am the only girl from my village in the BSF. The village elders are proud of me and bless me whenever I go back,” says Nirmaljit,who is also studying for her graduation through distance learning.

While Shinderpal patrols the barbed fence,Nirmaljit keeps an eye on some Pakistani farmers in their wheat farms along the international border. She adjusts the focus of her binoculars to zoom in on them as a car enters the fields.

“This area,particularly Rajatal and Dauke border outposts,is notorious for smuggling. We have to keep an eye not only on Pakistanis,but also Indians. After Indian farmers cross over to their farms (many Indian farmers have their farms across the barbed fence and along the international border),we have to observe every single farmer as they work the fields,” says Nirmaljit.

The BSF personnel have thwarted a number of attempts to smuggle in heroine,fake currency and arms on the Indo-Pak border in Punjab. This year so far,BSF personnel claim to have recovered 140 kg of heroin,worth nearly Rs 700 crore,besides arms and ammunition. They have shot dead one Indian and nine Pakistani smugglers.

At 2:30 p.m.,Shinderpal,while patrolling the fence,notices an Indian farmer coming very close to the fence with his cattle. She walks towards him and tells him to stay away. “We do not allow civilians near the barbed fence,” says Shinderpal.

Sometimes smugglers use pipes to transfer goods through the fence. “We frisk farmers thoroughly before we let them work in their farms on the other side of the fence,” says Shinderpal who is from Kusla village in Mansa district. Her father is a buffalo trader. Like Nirmaljit,she too is the only girl from her village to have joined the BSF. “I was very fond of the uniform,” says Shinderpal,a graduate from Punjabi University,Patiala.

Shinderpal is the “sharpshooter” of her unit. She regularly takes part in the 10-metre and 25-metre air pistol competitions. “I recently stood second in a tournament at Indore,” she says. She is as much at ease with her Insas 5.56 mm rifle as with her air pistols. “Though I haven’t had to fire from the observation post so far,I am sure that if I have to,I will hit the target,” she says.

At 3 p.m.,it is time for a swap—now Shinderpal will man the tower and Nirmaljit will patrol the fence. At 4 p.m.,a BSF personnel brings tea for the duo. It has been a calm day,but they have had to stay alert all the time. “We can’t afford to be lax,” says Nirmaljit,as the duo hands over charge to their male counterparts for the night shift.