‘Packing up and leaving is not easy': As border tensions escalate, Punjab villagers on high alert

Indian Express

06-05-2025

A chilling announcement pierced the quiet of Alam Shah village in Punjab's Fazilka district three days ago. 'Assi suniya ki jung da mahaul hai…koi vi sham nu 6 vaje toh baad ghar toh bahar na niklo (We are hearing there is a possibility of war…no one should step outside their homes after 6 pm),' a voice streaming over a loudspeaker from the local gurdwara in the village that lies just half a km away from the Indo-Pak border said.
With tensions soaring over India's possible military response to the Pahalgam terror attack and the Centre directing northern and western states and Union Territories to test and strengthen their civil defence mechanisms on Wednesday, the border villages along the Indo-Pak border are on the alert.
'It was a call for unity,' Sukhmander Singh Thind, a member of the Alam Shah village defence committee, said about the gurdwara announcement. 'They asked every family to stay together and remain alert,' he added. While some villagers are paying heed to the warning and returning home early, Thind admitted 'not all' were as concerned.
Along several border villages in Punjab, fear is tempered by experience. Alam Shah, like many other villages along the border, has seen several evacuations—in 1965, 1971, 1999, and 2016. 'Packing up and leaving is not easy. We will take a call only if we see something serious. In the past, when we left, our belongings were damaged or looted,' Thind added.
In Tindiwala village of Ferozepur, the last habitation before the zero line, villagers are more practical. 'We have packed emergency kits: some clothes, savings, documents. If needed, we will leave via boat. It is a shortcut and safer than roads. Children and women will leave first; men will be the last to exit,' Parkash Singh said.
Singh recounted the tales passed down by elders. 'In 1971, Pakistani troops entered the evacuated villages. They looted everything—doors, windows, even bricks. They sprayed chemicals that killed our trees,' he said. 'Despite that, we will wait until it is absolutely necessary. We are ready,' he added.
As tensions escalate along the Line of Control, sarpanches in Punjab's border villages are also making lists of the number of houses, men, women, minors, total area under cultivation, etc, sources said, adding that such details have been shared with security forces too in many villages.
In Ferozepur, a blackout rehearsal was held on Sunday night. 'Till last week, everything seemed fine. But now with blackout rehearsals, we are becoming more alert. We cannot afford complacency,' Veer Singh from Muhar Jamsher village in Fazilka said.
Further down in Bhakra Gatti Rajoke, another Ferozepur border village, preparations are more hands-on. 'The Army is cleaning bunkers. We have kept candles, matchsticks, and water bottles ready, but we are still in the village,' said Vanjar Singh. 'It takes us only two hours to evacuate by boat. We grew up on the Sutlej—we are expert rowers,' he added.
Several villagers have packed their essentials like land documents, savings, and jewellery. 'We have stocked up on potatoes, onions and garlic. Wheat and rice are homegrown. Pulses are yet to be added,' said Thind.
An old, unused Army hospital in Tindiwala has now been made operational. 'We have been advised to switch off lights early at night, but few follow it. Interestingly, across the border, we see no lights at all. Possibly, they have already evacuated or followed blackouts strictly,' Parkash Singh noted.
Not everybody is alarmed, though. Duleep Singh from Khajala Road in Amritsar said, 'We hear noise about war in the media. On the ground, things seem calm, though people are alert. My relatives closer to the border are still farming as usual. The real panic is in urban areas. Border villagers have seen it all. If war happens, we will stay and support the Army.'