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Peace is visible on the India–Pakistan border as the ceasefire between the two countries completes a year on Friday, but Pakistan continues to play mischief by pushing in terrorists by digging cross-border tunnels and using drones to fly arms and narcotics into the Indian territory.
Residents of villages on either side of the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) are visibly happy after the guns fell silent since 25 February last year when in a surprise development armies of both countries announced the ceasefire and recommitted themselves to the 2003 Vajpayee era ceasefire agreement.
However, fear of arms and narcotics being dumped by Pakistan in border villages haunts the residents. The Border Security Force (BSF) in successive sector commander level meetings with the Pakistan Rangers has strongly raised the issue of Pakistan drones violating the IB by intruding into the Indian territory and also facilitating infiltration of terrorists through tunnels originating from the border posts of the Pak Rangers.
Gyan Chand, a resident of the Suchetgarh village right on the IB, is satisfied with the ceasefire as he and other farmers of the area are in a position to plough their fields upto the zero line of the border.
This was earlier not possible as Pakistani troops would open fire at the farmers trying to take care of their crops near the border. Mortar shelling by Pakistan that was a routine affair took toll of large number of people along the IB and LOC of the Indian side.
Abdul Khaliq Bhat, sarpanch of Silikote village, located on the zero line that has suffered the worst during the shelling said that a lot has changed in the last one year. “Everything is calm here. Normal life has been restored. Villagers can now move out easily and do their daily chores,” he said.
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