The >November 2 suicide attack on the Pakistan side of Wagah border , which occurred soon after the flag lowering ceremony and left over 50 people dead, has rendered over 200 people who earned their living by selling articles or providing services to people visiting the ceremony on the Indian side jobless.
In a knee-jerk reaction to the blast, in which the bomber blew himself while people were returning after witnessing the ceremony, the Indian authorities have pushed the first check point 300 metres back and decided to distance the visitors from the shopkeepers, vendors and rickshawpullers who provided them with essential goods and services on the Indian side.
The southern carriageway of the Grand Trunk Road has been cordoned off with a green cloth screen that has been put on the central verge. All visitors are now required to go to and return from the ceremony on this side. The northern carriageway is only being used for plying of official vehicles or those with VIP passes.
Due to this, the 20 permanent shops, 10 kiosks, nearly 200 vendors who sold things ranging from water to tea to CDs of the ceremony to the visitors, have now been distanced from the visitors. This has impacted the earning of a large number of youth from the neighbouring Attari, Danda and Neshta villages.
Goldy, who paints the Indian flag on the faces of visitors, said his earning has dropped from around Rs 300 per day to just about Rs 50 as he has now shifted near the new check point.
The lives of nearly 50 school children who work part-time at the border to support their education has also been impacted. One of them, Gaurav Kumar Awasthy, who studies in Class X at Government Senior Secondary School, Attari, and makes some money on the side by selling ceremony CDs, said: “The BSF men shoo us away. We are treated like criminals though we are only here to support our families.”
His classmate Pritpal Singh, who also sells CDs and water, said he took to work as his father was suspended from Punjab Police. “I work to support my studies and that of my two brothers, but no one really cares for us. And then they talk about providing security to schools and students.”
About 75 cycle-rickshaw pullers who used to ferry visitors from the parking to the first check point have also been rendered jobless. One of them, Major Singh alias Lambu, who now transports husk and straw on his rickshaw in Attari village said: “I am barely able to earn Rs 30 to Rs 50 per day now. There is hardly any work here.”
For permanent shopkeepers like Mukhtiar Singh Babboo, who has had to close his restaurant, it has meant complete loss of business. “We can’t even go anywhere from here,” he said as he looked across the road where the BSF personnel had started frisking the visitors at the second check point ahead of the evening ceremony.
The shopkeepers have petitioned Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal for help. Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar Ravi Bhagat said the restrictions were imposed because the mixing of the visitors with the vendors and shopkeepers was a security hazard. “A meeting of the Sub Divisional Magistrate, DIG BSF and Punjab Police officials has been planned. We would be issuing identity cards to the affected people so that they are also able to work in an atmosphere of security.”
