BSF lodges strong protest with Pak Rangers over border firing

The Border Security Force on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with the Pak Rangers over its "unprovoked" cross-border firing which killed one civilian and injured 14 in Jammu and Kashmir over past few days and warned that such acts or any other misadventure will not be tolerated at any cost.

The protest was conveyed at the Sector Commander level Flag Meeting between BSF and Pakistan Rangers at BOP Octroi (Pakistan side) in R S Pura sector of Jammu district which lasted for about two hours.

The Flag Meeting was convened in the wake of renewed firing by Pakistani Rangers after over a month-long lull. "The BSF strongly protested the killing of one civilian and injuries to others due to unprovoked firing of Pakistan Rangers," a senior BSF officer said after the meeting.

"The BSF conveyed it to Pakistan Rangers in strong words that any misadventure on the International Border and the firing and shelling on Indian villages will not be tolerated at any cost," the officer said.

After a lull of over a month, Pakistan Rangers resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling from October 23 targetting large number of BoPs and border hamlets with 81, 82 mm mortar bombs and heavy machine guns till Monday morning. It resulted in the death of a civilian and injuries to 14 others. Over two dozen bovines were also killed or injured.

On October 23, one civilian labourer Raj Kumar from Chhattisgarh was killed and two other civilians were injured in the firing by Pakistani Rangers along IB in Mangu Chack area on Samba sector.

The next day, five civilians were injured in the Pakistani firing and shelling along IB in Mawa and Bhatti villages in Samba. On October 25, six people were injured in Pak shelling in Bobiya area along IB in Hirnagar sector of Kathua district. One civilian was injured in Pak firing in Ramgarh belt of samba sector on Monday.

The eight-member Indian side was led by DIG B S Kasana while the 11-member Pakistani delegation was headed by Brig Wasim Jafer Bhatti, Sector Commander of Sialkot.

"The main agenda of the meeting was ongoing cross border firing which was initiated by Pakistan in Samba Sector on October 23, 2015," the BSF officer said.

"As usual, Pakistan Rangers refuted the allegation and said that they didn't open fire and counter blamed BSF for firing fiercely on Pakistan posts and villages," he said. He said the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere and it was agreed that meetings at local level between two border guarding forces should be held more frequently.

The other issues including defence construction and infiltration bids from the Pakistan territory were also discussed and the Pakistani Commander gave an assurance of cooperation from his side in maintaining peace and tranquility on the borders, he said.

"The meeting ended on a positive note," the officer said. Last sector commander level meeting was held between BSF and Pakistan Rangers on Octerio BoP along IB in R S  Pura sector on March 18, 2015 as the two sides called for bringing "much needed peace" on the border in the wake of recent exchanges of heavy fire.

Prior to that, the BSF and Pak Rangers had held an over three-hour long Sector Commander level flag meeting at Octerio BoP in R S Pura sector in Jammu on August 29, 2014 after a continuous exchange of fire along the international border from Samba to Kanachak in Jammu & Kashmir for the preceding 45 days.

Talking to reporters at Octerio BOP on Tuesday evening, BSF Inspector General (Jammu Frontier) Rakesh Kumar said, "We have lodged the protest and all those protests are given to them on which they have violated the understanding which was established during the DG-level talks."

He said, "We have told them that we have zero tolerance towards sniping, zero tolerance for infiltration and zero tolerance for cross border firing on the international border, and especially targeting of the civilian population".

Replying to questions on the outcome of talks, he said, "In the meetings, Pakistan Rangers appear to be very positive and it appears that now they will follow the norms... Talks do bring results and I am hopeful that these talks will also produce results."

The firing and shelling from Pakistan Rangers had stopped following Director General-level talks between the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers in Delhi on September 12. First ceasefire violation after that was witnessed on October 23.

with inputs from Mukhtar Ahmad. Image:  BSF and Pakistan Rangers at BOP Octroi (Pakistan side) in R S Pura sector of Jammu district. Image: Umar Ganie