Changing home twice a day 
Shariq Majeed
Tribune News Service

Qasba-LoC (Poonch), April 20
Every morning Maulvi Qamar-ud-din along with his wife leaves his house at Qasba village here to reach his native village Kerni on the other side of the fence just close to the Line of Control for farming and cattle rearing. The couple spends the daytime in that village just to return in the evening on this side after day’s hard work.
And Maulvi sahib’s family is not the only one, which follows this timetable. There are around 150 such families, who have houses in both villages, live life literally on both sides of the fence. They take their lunch on the other side and dinner on this side.
Natives of Kerni village had to move to this side after 1998 due to shelling along the LoC. They were reportedly given financial aid by the government for constructing houses in Qasba village. This timetable for these people has never changed and now has become a routine affair.
“We have adapted ourselves to this routine. After crossing the fence we do farming in our native village and even rear our cattle. In the evening, we have to return since the Army doesn’t allow us to stay there,” says Qamar, who cultivates 15 kanals of land on the other side of fence and has half a dozen cattle. “We want to stay there but it is the government who has to ensure that. We hope that our government will take some effective step to mitigate our sufferings,” he adds.
A senior Army officer posted in the area admits that these villagers are not allowed to stay in their village on other side of fence. However, he refuses to give reasons for it. Jammu-based-defence spokesperson Lt-Col S.D. Goswami says safety of these villagers is the prime concern of the Army and “it is being done just for security reasons.”