Normalcy returning to Ferozepur villages

Ferozepur: Normalcy seems to be returning to the border areas of

Ferozepur

district after two days of panic due to heightened tension with Pakistan as more families are returning to their villages.

The evacuation drive launched by the district administration in border villages on Thursday, seemed to lose pace almost immediately as men started returning to their homes after leaving women and children at safer places.

Gatti Rajoke

village resident Resham Singh said they couldn't afford to leave their houses and paddy crop unattended for long so they had decided to return to the village. "We will not leave their homes till firing starts from across the border," he added.

Another villager Hansa Singh, 80, said they had braved the 1965 and 1971 wars with Pakistan so they were not scared. "We did not allow our confidence to be shaken even when our fields were mined by the Army during the

Kargil

conflict of 1999, and post the December 2001 attack on our Parliament. Even today when there is fear of war, we are not going anywhere," he said in a spirited tone.

While questioning the government orders to evacuate village within the 10km area of the international border, many local residents said there was no such move in the neighbouring state of Rajasthan, which also shared a long border with Pakistan.

During a tour of several border area villages in Ferozepur, TOI found elderly playing cards in 'sath', women doing their routine chores, and children playing in the streets. "We cannot afford to leave our fields at this moment as crop has almost ripened and will be ready for harvesting in the next couple of days," said Pyara Singh of Tendiwala village.