Pak turmoil bothers people in border areas

People living in areas along India-Pakistan border have expressed concern over the unrest in Pakistan in the wake of assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

By Ravinder Singh Robin

Pul Kanzri, December 31 : People living in areas along India-Pakistan border have expressed concern over the unrest in Pakistan in the wake of assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

Residents of border villages, especially the farmers, who have their cultivable land close to the international border are wary of the fragile situation in the neighbouring country.

They say this is a grim reminder of the India-Pakistan Partition days when they were forced to flee their homes and hearths.

"Whenever there is a problem in Pakistan it is the border farmers who has to face more trouble," said Hira Singh, a farmer of Pul Kanjari, whose family was forced to migrate twice.

"We are asked by the Border Security Forces (BSF) to move away from border areas. We request the government to find a permanent solution to this problem," said Hira Singh.

He said farmers like him had suffered a lot and were not in a position to take another blow.

"I get scared to see silence on fields of Pakistan. It is like a lull before a storm," said Hira Singh.

Darshan Singh, an elderly farmer, said that since the death of Bhutto he had not seen any Pakistani farmer tilling his fields, but had seen movement of Rangers.

"Obviously there is a tension on other side of border," he said and prayed that the violence in Pakistan didn't cast a shadow on India and mar the peace process.

The Government of India has already issued an alert to the BSF to maintain vigil following Bhutto's assassination.

ANI