The anger of farmers erupted on Monday (February 16) in Arnia sector adjacent to the India-Pakistan International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir. Under the banner of ‘Border Kisan Sangharsh Samiti’, hundreds of farmers demonstrated strongly demanding ownership rights of their lands located across the border fencing and fair compensation. Farmers have warned that if they are not heard, the movement will be further intensified.
The demonstration was led by former sarpanch of Trewa village Balbir Kaur and Vijay Chaudhary. Angry farmers staged a protest at Trewa Chowk and blocked the road, due to which traffic in the area came to a standstill for a long time. The farmers raised slogans against the Jammu and Kashmir administration and the concerned departments and accused them of deliberately harassing them.
‘We were settled in 1947 and 65, now there is fear of snatching the land’
Former Sarpanch Balbir Kaur, while talking to the media, said that these farmers settled on the border had come here after being displaced from different areas of Pakistan in 1947 and 1965. The government itself had given him these lands to run his family. They have been farming here for decades, but till date they have not been given ownership rights.
He alleged that the administration is now misleading the farmers by calling these lands sometimes as Custodian Department, sometimes as Waqf Board and sometimes as government land. The question of the farmers is that if this land is taken away from them, how will they feed their children?
farmers living in uncertainty
Former Sarpanch Vijay Chaudhary said that lack of clarity from the government has left farmers in uncertainty. It is equally difficult to do farming on the land on the other side of the fencing, farmers are frustrated due to lack of compensation and rights. The protesters have given an ultimatum to the administration that if a permanent solution to their demands is not found soon, they will be forced to protest on a large scale.