It’s freezing temperature on the International Border and fog has made life tough for those guarding it. There is wild growth on the other side of the fence and the Sutlej River crosses over to Pakistan here, making the area sandy and difficult to walk.
But if you ask B Mallikarjuna, from distant Karnataka, if life is tough. His immediate response would be — “No sir. The sanctity of the borders of the country is so important. It is sacred to us, more important than anything else”. The colleagues of Mallikarjuna are quick to add as they pose a counter question, “How can life be tough and boring when there are so many challenges to overcome?”That is the Indo-Pak International Border in the Ferozepur sector for you and the spirit of the jawans and officers of Border Security Force (BSF) which guards the nation’s frontiers for us.
Just as we are talking, three wild boars dash towards the fence to get over to the other side. They have made small openings in the fence itself and its surprising how they come to Indian side during the day time and spend the night in the wild growth on the other side of the fence, a part of it in India and then in the neighboring country.
Some of these boars are trapped in the fence and electrocuted in the evenings as electric wires are switched on and criss cross on the fence in a pattern which makes it practically impossible for any intruder or smuggler to take this route to India.
Jaswinder Kumar Birdi, Commandant, 105 Battalion of BSF, says smuggling of narcotics is of prime concern and the entire energy and focus is on checking the trade from the other side. He cites figures for the seizures and said, “We have ensured that their nefarious designs never succeed”.
Birdi along with another Commandant who is on a visit from Mohali inspected the modern and newly constructed three storied Border Out Post and issued instructions to those on guard duty. From here, the jawans with position on the top floor can observe any suspicious movement for miles and take appropriate action. The officer says that all of them are trained to observe any movement, particularly during the night time and fog when the smugglers might think that they can take advantage of the conditions.
On some stretches where there are rivers, rivulets or drains crossing the fence, the BSF has come out with a mechanism wherein lasers are deployed to check any infiltration attempt. “If the circuit of the laser breaks, which is if any object comes between the laser, there is loud beep beep and the jawans immediately take positions,” Birdi explained. One of his jawans put his hand in front of the laser and there is a sound immediately, indicating that the system was fool proof.
Officials explained that the little smuggling which takes place is through those farmers who cross the barbed fence for agricultural purposes. “These farmers are thoroughly checked before the gates of the barbed fence are opened and also after they come back in the evening. But smugglers try to be innovative and occasionally hide narcotics in hollow space in agriculture equipment and joints of tractor trolleys and similar methods,” said an official. Some of the earlier methods like using a plastic pipe to smuggle in the narcotics or simply throwing it from across the border for another courier this side has huge risk and propensity to get caught is high, officials said, suggesting that this has come down significantly in recent months.
After the vigorous work at the border, there is another grueling task for selected jawans to perform—this is the retreat ceremony at the time of lowering of flags for both India and Pakistan at the Hussainiwala Border every evening.