JAMMU: Less than a fortnight after 14 Pakistani ‘morchas’ and posts were blown to bits by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) along the International Border (IB), the Pakistanis are rapidly rebuilding their border infrastructure. From the Indian side, men in uniforms and pathan suits can be seen stacking sandbags, raising tin roofing and cementing bunkers.
Some 14 Pakistani posts were destroyed along the border in the Ramgarh, Hiranagar, and Arnia sectors by Indian retaliatory fire on Nov. 1 after eight people were killed when Pakistan rained 82 mm and 120 mm mortar shells on border hamlets and military posts along the IB and Line of Control in Samba, Jammu, Poonch and Rajouri districts.
The posts are now being rebuilt. Top sources in the BSF’s intelligence wing disclosed to New Indian Express that there has been hectic activity on the Pakistani side in the past one week. To the untrained observer, it is difficult to spot the Pakistani posts from the Indian side. Camouflaged by tall Sarkanda grass and wild vegetation, the Pakistani ‘morchas’ are located in a single line. From the border, the Pakistani flag is visible only at some posts. But the Indian forces are equipped with the electronics to keep tabs on everything.
In contrast, all Indian posts and morchas are visible to the Pakistanis, for the wild bush on this side is regularly cleared so as to give no cover to infiltrating terrorists. “It is only the Indian side which has to do border management,” said a BSF official. “The Pakistan side does not have to bother. Their preparation on the border is more war-like and they have always been in that mode.’’
Though Pakistani posts are camouflaged, the BSF has the technical equipment to detect their coordinates. “We never initiate firing, we only retaliate, but we hit them with precision. That’s how we destroyed their 14 posts.”
In fact, the day after the 14 posts were pounded by India, the Pakistan Rangers raised a white flag, signaling they wanted to talk. A meeting was fixed for the following day. But they did not turn up at the specified time. “Perhaps, they had second thoughts,: said the BSF officials.
However, some chitchat does take place between border guards across the line. It’s a regular feature during peace time, but it abruptly stopped after the surgical strikes carried out by the Indian Army across the LoC on September 29. But the talk’s back. Two Rangers greeted the BSF men along the IB on Friday.