BSF hasn’t ordered border evacuation

'We have never said vacate villages. People may have shifted out as precautionary measure'

Hard times: Migrant children from the Pargwal border village study at a temporary camp set up in a government school on the outskirts of Jammu on Monday.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, BSF Director General K.K. Sharma said the force has not issued orders for vacating villages along the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Punjab, and said such directives may have been issued by the respective civil administrations.

“We have never said vacate villages. People may have shifted out as precautionary measure,” he said.

Another official said it was highly unlikely that there would be firing along the Punjab border, as both the sides are densely populated and dominated by an agrarian population.

“Though Jammu is also densely populated, it has been witness to shelling and firing, as Pakistan doesn’t consider it to be the International Boundary. Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat are different; there is no ambiguity here and no ceasefire pact in place since it is a settled boundary,” said the official.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal visited border villages to tell locals that evacuation was to avoid major loss to life, but the opposition parties are not buying this argument.

Leaders’ camp

The leaders of the Congress party and the Aam Aadmi Party are camping in the six border districts — Ferozepur, Fazilka, Amritsar, Taran Tarn, Gurdaspur and Pathankot to `expose the motive of the ruling SAD-BJP behind the move’, which according to them is solely to gain political mileage ahead of Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

On Tuesday, Punjab Congress chief Capt. Amarinder visited villages Kals, Khalra, Chhinna Bidi Chand, Havellian and Naushera Dhalla in Khem Karan and neighbouring Tarn Taran district while Congress MP Pratap Singh Bajwa went to Pathankot and Gurdaspur.

Capt Amarider told The Hindu : “I want to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out whether India was at war with Pakistan..Are we really at war with Pakistan? Please clarify your stand?” He pointed out that on one hand the Prime Minister was emphasising the need for de-escalation, on the other hand the poor villagers were being evicted. AAP leaders slammed the State government. Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann had questioned government move.