Despite truce, Indian farmers fear firing while harvesting

While their Pakistani counterparts in Sujan village have almost completed the process, the atmosphere on this side is listless. Even in some of the interior border fields, the charm that is a part of the harvest proceedings is missing. Women no longer hum folk songs in time with the sickles’ scythe through wheat stalks.

“These songs come straight from heart. But when there is fear, how can these romantic words come out,” said Praksho, an elderly woman accompanying her teenaged son to the field. The other woman working nearby said that under the constant fear of enemy fire, they try to complete their tasks as quickly as possible.

As against this, the atmosphere in Sujan village is brimming with activity. Standing near zero line, one can see Pakistani woman taking lunch to the fields for the farmers. Elders are seen enjoying a hukka under the shade of a tree.

Explaining his inability to reap the crop, Lal Singh said,“The fear has much to do with the overnight firing by the Pakistani Rangers in which a civilian and an army jawan was injured last evening. We had made labourers agree to harvest the crop. But after this incident, they are reluctant to come here.”

But why are the Pakistanis not afraid border firing? “They have already harvested maximum of the yield, while we have yet to start. And they (Pakistanis) know that till harvesting is complete on the Indian side, our jawans will not fire even a single shot towards them,” said one of the BSF official.

“Pakistani crop has matured few days earlier than ours and they were well prepared. But here, till yesterday, we were not aware of the ceasefire,” said Rattan Singh, of Kandial village.

In order to generate confidence, BSF jawans are guard the fields, while many of them patrol along the border to help farmers overcome their fears. Despite these efforts, labourers do not venture into the fields.

“We have told farmers that there will be no firing during day time. And for that matter, we are even asking our boys to be with them while they are working. If they don’t come, what can we do?” asks Charanji Lal, commander of the S M Pura Post.

Many farmers fear heavy losses if they are unable to cut the crop within two-three days. Once the truce is over, the guns will see to it that their standing crops rot.