'Give Us PoK': J&K Border Villagers Hold Prayers On 12 Years Of Modi Government

Just metres from the border fence in Jammu and Kashmir's RS Pura sector, an area that lived for decades under the  shadow of Pakistani gunfire, the air now carries no fear.

As the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes 12 years, villagers gathered in the open to perform a havan beside the border fence. Smoke from the sacred fire rose into the same sky that once echoed with mortar blasts.

"Today we are sitting out in the open and performing prayers. It is because of one man and his strong policies," says Balbir Kour, sarpanch of Arnia village in a forward area. "And he is none other than PM Modi. We want him to head the country for another 24 years," she says.

Balbir and many other villagers who had gathered for the special prayers want PM Modi, in his next tenure, to give them Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. Most families in this village came from across the border during the Partition, leaving behind ancestral properties.

For people here, 12 years of the Modi government meant 12 years of a firm policy on Pakistan. The shift in military strategy began after the Uri attack. With the surgical strikes, India sent a clear message: if Pakistan hits India or its people, India will hit back where it hurts most. Operation Sindoor is the latest example of that doctrine.

"No more we have to abandon our homes because of shells fired by trigger-happy Pakistani soldiers," says Garu, a resident of another border village.

It was only after 2018 that farmers in this border belt could cultivate land right up to the "zero line". Earlier, heavy shelling from across the border made free movement unthinkable. Venturing out was like inviting danger.

Expectations run high in these border villages and land is at the heart of them.

"We've lived here for generations, yet the land isn't in our name. Only Modi ji can give us ownership rights now," says Rattan Lal, adding that for decades, leaders promised it but never delivered.

Twelve years ago, the border was about bunkers and body bags. Today, it's about crops blooming and tractors moving in the field and farmers with sickle cutting yield.