On the eve of festival of lights, complete darkness descended across forward border villages along the International Border and the line of Control (loC) in Jammu region as panic stricken residents had to lock down their houses before shifting to safer places.
Due to simmering tension on the border, these residents fear another round of flare-up in the aftermath of barbaric killing of an Indian soldier by terrorists in Machhal sector of Kupwara.
To prevent any fresh strike by the Border Action Teams of Pakistan Army, Border Security Force jawans and Indian Armymen have been kept in a state of high alert for next 48 hours. Intelligence agencies have also warned the State/Centre Government about possible strike by heavily armed terrorists in the next few days.
A large number of infiltrators have been camping close to the border across different launch pads, waiting for opportune time to sneak inside the Indian territory.
Rough estimates suggested more than 40 villages each along the IB and loC in Jammu were emptied on the advice of the local authorities to prevent loss of life and property during Diwali.
For last few years Pak troops have been targeting civilian areas during the festival season to disturb peace in the region.
The worst hit areas of Abdulian, Suchetgarh, Arnia, Sai, Chanduchak,Jeora farms wore a deserted look in RS Pura late on Saturday evening. Only visiting media teams and security personal were seen moving in the area. Before stepping out of their houses, the residents had to even switch off all the lights to avoid any mishap during cross border shelling.
The situation in Pallanwala sector of Akhnoor was no different as people from more than 40 forward villages were already camping in community shelters and other places to ensure their safety.
Pakistan Army had trained their guns towards these villages on Friday. One civilian was killed in Chamb area in the intense shelling. Some of the family members had shifted along with newly born kids in the absence of any alternate accommodation.
Narrating her ordeal, Heena, holding her seven-day-old son on her lap, told reporters in a satsang bhawan complex in Pallanwala that we had to rush out of our homes when Pakistan army started pounding forward areas. She said she came along with her kids and in-laws while rest of the family and her husband arrived late in the evening after locking their homes. She said she is struggling to ensure her seven-day-old son safe in this temporary shelter.
like her, several other families were seen cursing their fate as they have been forced by the circumstances to shift to safer places to save their lives.
The mood among the business community in the border areas is full of gloom as they had failed to recover cost of goods they had purchased for Diwali festivities. Even traditional florists, sweet makers have failed to attract customers due to border tension.
Earlier in the morning, Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Jitendra Singh met jawans in Samba, Jammu & Kashmir to wish BSF soldiers on Diwali. “We feel safe as our soldiers are standing on borders to tackle every situation, we are proud of them,” said Jitendra Singh. He met the soldiers and distributed sweets. Reacting to the barbaric killing of Indian solider, Jitendra said “There can’t be anything more atrocious than this. Pakistan is already exposed but it continues to be in denial mode.”