A retired BSF personnel has collected tailfins of mortar shells,fired by Pakistani troops,that have hit his house over past four days. Bhishan Singh,who stays with his family in Suchetgarh Kulian in Samba district barely a few metres from the International Border,says the shells are evidence that it has been the worst firing from Pakistani side in the past decade. The 65-year-old says it has been the first time since 2002 that the village has faced mortar shelling of this scale. So much that his family has been forced to flee to a temporary relief camp 15 km from Samba. Singh,who served at the border outpost (BO) facing his village about 20 years ago,said,We are quite used to the sounds of gunfire,but this time it was big. Huge mortar shells fired from Pakistans side landed at my doorstep. We could barely breathe. Our walls can withstand the bullets but not these mortars,they can rip our house apart. Most of the 270 people living in Suchetgarh Kulian are farmers. We have to cut our crops but the BSF does not allow us to go near the BOs where our farm is located. We are living like refugees in our own house,there is always a fear of being killed, says Sardar Chand,a farmer. The 80-year-old believes that even families living on the other side of the border have been forced to flee their homes for safety,due to heavy firing by both Indian and Pakistani troops. For the past three days we have not heard any namaaz from the other side,which means even they are suffering the same fate, says Chand adding there is no Muslim his village. Singhs son Surjit Kumar,a teacher at a government school in the village,says there has been a low turnout in the past one week. This is only a primary school,we only have 21 children but even among them only six have come. Rest have been sent to safer locations by their families, said Surjit. The local administration,however,says there has been no largescale migration. Divisional Commissioner of Samba,R K Varma said such incidents were common in the area. Those who shifted to the town did so temporarily. There was no largescale migration. Shan Kumari,a sarpanch of S M Pura village in Ramgarh sector said people fled to the nearby town on Sunday night. There was heavy firing so we decided to run. We have returned but we switch off the lights when it turns dark,we cannot take any chances now, said Kumari.
