Living on the edge: Women in Punjab’s border villages hold the fort in face of tensions

Paro Bai, in her early 60s, adds that she is fit and fine and also has training in self defence. “If need be, I can quickly evacuate from Tindiwala village to another place with my two sons,” she says, adding that her daughter-in-laws and grandchildren have been sent to a relative’s place.

Bhanewala and Tindiwala are border villages in Ferozepur district of Punjab. Amid multiple attacks by Pakistani drones in Ferozepur, Pathankot, Fazilka, and Amritsar districts, while most residents of border villages have shifted to other places with their belongings some have stayed back showing grit and resilience.

Bhanewala falls under the Gatti Rahimke block and lies along the Sutlej river and are at the risk of flooding every monsoon. “Be it rain or war, we are always at risk. In 2023, our village suffered due to floods and the government gave us no compensation. This time the situation is different but we can’t leave our land. The soldiers are on the frontlines and we are here as the second line of defence. My nephew is in the Army and is posted in Jammu,” says Preeto.

She added that if need be they are also ready to fight. “During the 1971 war, 90 youngsters from our four villages took civil defence training, including my two uncles. They were ready to fight then and we are now. War is not a worry but the government’s apathy towards us is,” her son Jagmeet says, adding that no minister visited them during floods.

On Friday, however, Ferozepur city AAP MLA Ranbir Singh Bhullar visited the area and provided two boats for evacuation. Cabinet minister Lal Chand Kataruchak visited border villages in Pathankot. To reach Ferozepur city, the villagers will first need to walk 3 kms and then take a boat ride.

Gurdev Singh, of Jaloke Centre village has also sent seven members of the family to a relative’s place.

“Living on the border has its own risk but that doesn’t mean we stop living. We send our boys to the Army and continue living on the border too. Not everyone has this grit. Waheguru ne sanu eh hausla ditta ae, is karke assi baar-baar majboot ho ke bahar aunde haan. (Waheguru has given us this courage; that’s why we come out strong every time.),” says Gurdev, who owns a small cement shop and also has five acres of land.

Karamjit Singh from Pacca Chisti village in Fazilka says that from every house, almost half the population has been shifted to safer places. “Kise ghar da darwaza taale naal band nahi… sirf abaadi ghatt gayi ae (No door is locked… only the population has reduced in the villages),” he says.

In Rania village of Amritsar, however, the mood remains tense. Kanwaljit Kaur, 35, says Punjab suffers the most whenever there is war. “We don’t want war. During the day, we gather at the local gurdwara and pray together,” she says.

Jasbir Kaur, 65, from Kakkar village — the last village near the zero line in Amritsar — adds, “At night, my grandchildren gets scared and we just count minutes. I remember the destruction of the 1971 war and evacuation is never easy.”

In Fazilka, SSP Varinder Brar visited several border villages and assured people of support in case evacuation.

Jalalabad MLA Goldy Kamboj and Fazilka MLA Narinderpal Sawna also visited villages within 1 km of the international border.

Vanjar Singh, a villager from Gatti Rajoke in Ferozepur, says, “The risk is everywhere now. Even cities like Bathinda, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and even Chandigarh are being targeted by Pakistan. So why should we fear?”

So far no official relief camps have been established but Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has volunteered to make villagers stay in their gurdwaras if they want to shift to safer places. There are around 15 SGPC gurdwaras in the border belt and majority of them in Majha region.