Farming Returns to LoC After 20 Years, BSF Guards the Fields

Farming in Hira Nagar Sector was stopped about two decades back because of infiltration and heavy shelling from Pakistan.

Smile returned on the faces of farmers when farming returned today (December 20) in the area after a gap of 20 years.

Farming along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Hira Nagar sector in Jammu & Kashmir was discontinued 20 years back because of heavy firing from the Pakistani side. Over 200 acres of the farmland was lying vacant ever since.

The BSF escorted the farmers and ensured they plough the land and sow the seeds. The Union government has made many efforts to bring normalcy to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

On August 5, 2019, the Union government scrapped provisions of Article 370, which provided a special status to the erstwhile state. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was reorganised in two union territories: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh. Since the abrogation of Article 370, there has been a decline in terror-related activities in Jammu & Kashmir.

In the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, Shri Nityanand Rai, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, said the Union government has taken multiple steps to check terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir, and the effects of the steps taken are visible.

From August 5, 2019 (When Article 370 was abrogated) to November 22, 2021 (841 days since the abrogation), 496 terror-related incidents have been reported from Jammu & Kashmir. This is down from 843 such incidents reported in the same time span before the abrogation.

The Minister also said that during the last 12 months, from December 2020 to November 2021, 14 terrorists had been apprehended, and 165 terrorists have been killed.

The administration of Jammu & Kashmir also took steps to check the terror activities in the union territory. Many government employees were terminated from their respective services for being over-ground workers of the terrorist organisations.

The Jammu & Kashmir administration, on October 16, sacked Anees-ul-Islam, the grandson of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, from government service for aiding terrorist activities in the union territory.

In July, the Jammu & Kashmir administration had sacked 11 of its employees, including sons of Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and two from the police department over allegations of a similar nature.

In a big move in September this year, the Jammu & Kashmir administration had sacked six employees over their alleged terror links, including working as overground workers for the terrorist groups.