Peace has heralded on the Indo-Pak borders after more than 45 days prompting the army of displaced people to return their homes in the volatile RS Pora sector of Jammu division.
This followed the sector commander-level flag meeting between Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistani Rangers a few days ago. Since the flag meeting, there has been no report of firing or shelling from the Pakistani rangers in any of the sectors on the international border (IB) in Jammu division.
"Normalcy has returned to the borders. Border is peaceful. There has been no incident of firing on the borders for the last four or five days," said Devender Singh, sub-divisional police officer, RS Pora.
For the last 45 days, the IB has seen heaviest firing from the Pakistani side since 1971 war. The escalation had prompted the Jammu and Kashmir government to evacuate thousands of residents from scores of villages located in the vulnerable zones on the borderline as a precautionary measure. The displaced people were put up in different schools, stadiums and Satasang Bhawans in the safer locations of RS Pora area.
"All of them have gone back after flag meeting was held some days ago. Nobody comes now to spend the night at the shelters. All schools and the stadium (which were acting as makeshift shelters for displaced people) have been vacated. The people are now staying home," said Singh.
Shushma Devi, Panch of Gharana village along the IB, said the villagers are now going to the fields for farming since the firing has stopped. "Firing has stopped now. There has been no shelling for the last four-five days. Therefore villagers are going to their fields to water their crops," she said.
There have been around 33 ceasefire violations since July 16 when Pakistani rangers started fresh offensive on the international border in Jammu division. Two civilians were killed and over 15 people including some BSF men were injured in the cross border firing.
"The government has taken initiatives for provision of land at safer places for the border people under rehabilitation package," said Sajjad Ahmad Kichloo, minister of state for home, Jammu and Kashmir.
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