uzmaazharali: Last Village on The Border (Pul Kanjari/Pul Moran, Punjab)

“Goli se nahin.... GST se darr lagta hai Sahab" (we are not afraid of bullet but of GST) remarked cheekily 75 years plus, Sattar Singh* of Pul Kanjari/Moran, last Village on the Indo-Pak border on the Punjab side. Sitting on the picturesque side wall of the old Baoli (stepwell) flanked by fully blooming yellow sarson ke khet (mustard fields) till one could see and at a certain distance we were told was “the sarhad” (border).

Sattar Singh Sahab had his humor intact even after living on the border for years and having seen serious armed conflict between India-Pakistan extremely closely in his lifetime on numerous occasions. His vivid memories of people getting killed, of loot and arson, losing loved ones and valuables in Partition riots, then the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 when they hardly had anything to lose except just handful of stuff and later 1971 war when Pakistan took over Pul Kanjari/Moran and later was won over by India after some days are some of the stories which he shared interspersed with some jokes exhibiting rustic Punjabi humor.

Sattar Singh’s family is the 14^th generation staying here in this area. His son is a B.Ed and daughter-in-law a PhD both working as teachers at Amritsar. Other son is a farmer who stays with him.

Story of the name change from Pul Kanjari to
Pul Moran

Village is located between Lahore and Amritsar and owes its name as per legend to its association with Maharaja Ranjeet Singh. He used to often rest here and was entertained by his favorite young dancing girl (Kanjari/lower caste) named Moran.
Once when she came to perform for the Maharaja, she lost her silver anklet while crossing the canal built by Shahjahan (to transfer water to Shalimar gardens). Sad over her loss, Moran refused to perform and Maharaja immediately ordered the bridge to be built over the canal. Since then, it came to be known as Pul Kanjari (only recently renamed as Pul Moran). Pul Kanjari/ Moran still has remnants of old canal, a big, beautiful 19^th century step-well which has a temple and three different sections for men, women and animals.

Sattar Singh ji shared stories of how Ranjit Singh was mocked for his fascination for the young nautch girl. Akal Takht Jathedar (Chief) wrote a letter in which he wrote, “Bind kanuje marna hai te munh kaala kyun karna hai?” (If you are going to die soon, why blacken your face/ turn white to black). And “Ja kehde dagge nu kyun kaala karda bagge nu” (Tell that one eyed bull why he dyes his beard?) Maharaja Ranjeet Singh used to dye his white beard because he wished to look young.

Sattar Singh Sahab told us another funny story before he left us of how sick were treated in the village. They had a blind doctor in the village, and he used to say, if you visited him when you had fever, “Je tu ek rupiya le aya ta bukhar itte hi chhad ja, je aath aane le aaya te adha bukhar kal le aa” (If you bring a one rupee then you can leave your fever behind, but if you get fifty paisa then bring your half fever back tomorrow).

Population and Partition (1947)

Entire population at Pul Kanjari/Moran now is of around 2500-2600 inhabitants. Mainly two castes of Jats and SCs (33% and 35% respectively) dominate the village. Population demographics changed post-Partition, but there is no ‘hisab’(record) of it. Earlier, Muslims used to live here then they crossed over, and now there are no Muslims here.

The village was a thriving trade center until Partition which saw loss of lives and livelihoods.
Pul Kanjari/Moran in the 1971 war with Pakistan was occupied by them but was captured back shortly by India in a battle which has been commemorated with a memorial dedicated to martyrs near the BSF post near the border.

During Partition riots, entire village was burnt down. Everyone migrated to the cities. Many people settled at Bagga (Kapurthala), Amritsar. Actual residents of this area left for Pakistan and other areas. Now, its residents are from neighbouring villages. The village that Sattar Singh himself came from was Dhanoa Kalan.

Indo-Pak Wars (1965, 1971, 1999)

“During the 1965 war there was no problem as such because India was on the offensive and had reached up to Lahore but in 1971, this entire area was captured by Pakistan. Second Battalion of Sikh regiment came to our rescue,” recalled Sarpanch Sahab.

'Machine guns from Pakistan side were going at a very fast speed Lance Naik Shingara Singh crawled up to the gun and uprooted it from the ground, then others took over and overpowered the rest of Pakistani Army jawans and re-captured Pul Moran. The War memorial is in memory of that battle. Army’s motto is always “Vijay or Veergati”. Army men were very well behaved and friendly. They even used to play with kids here,” he added later.

Some locals had lost their lives in the 1971 firing.

“1965 we went to the other side, 1971 they came here” is how most villagers describe and remember the two wars. People had left in 1965 their homes, but there was no “nuksaan”(damage) as such.

During the Kargil war of 1999, people had left the Village for safer areas, but nothing happened here.

Landmines, Wires and Bunkers - Everyday Life At The Border Village

We went to the Village Chaupal under a large tree with many old men sitting on charpoys ordering young men to properly cut the sarson (mustard) in the nearby machine. Many villagers spoke about problems of staying at the border, apart from leaving homes when tensions rise between India and Pakistan. Although the area has largely been peaceful but whenever conflict arises they have to shift to their relatives place in other parts “andar ki taraf” (towards the inside).

On Amritsar’s route, there is a drain which is considered as the ‘safe line’, once you cross that you are outside the firing zone, thus, safe, we were told by the Sarpanch.

“Wahan tak safe hai varna bomb to Delhi me kya kahin bhi lag sakta hai, koi safe jagah nahi hai” (Safe up to that point, although one can get hit by bomb even at Delhi or even at any other place. No place is safe) added an old Sardar ji with a realistic touch.

“When there is firing on the border we leave on our own, no such directive comes from the government”, says Suchcha Singh Laborer/caretaker of the baoli (Stepwell) since 9years, (‘Springdales School (nearby) gives him his salary, not the government’, he clarifies to us). His family also like other families, originally came from Dhanoa Kalan, but he was born here.

Villagers keep discovering land-mines even after Army has removed them. Livestock damages occur, when animals venture in those affected areas. People have also suffered injuries, have been handicapped for life, “kaafi nuksaan hua hai” (much damage).

Those who have Farms beyond the wire, it is problematic for them to work there, there is hardly any time for farming, especially when land-mines are laid out.

Subegh Singh, has land near the wire fence. He described his many problems. During ‘foggy’ conditions, he cannot visit his fields, around the time of Indo-Pak tensions he has to leave fields, and consequently, livestock and crops suffer. They cannot take anything with them if they have to leave when tension escalates on the border, have to leave crops standing, just run with whatever is on them. They can only work on the farms near the fence from 9-10 am to 3-4 pm only, depending on summer/winter seasons. Government provides no facilities to people on the border.

He has lived closely with army, and says, ‘the way army behaves depends on Officer to Officer, they can be nice/ rude depending on their mood/day.’

Santogh Singh 70 years, originally from Dhanoa Kalan, has been a local friend of the Army. According to him, it would be better if government could settle them somewhere at the back but no help has come from the government. ‘If ever enemy attacks at night, we have nowhere to go. There was a stream which used to run up to Lahore now it is dry (water scarcity in summers). We are extremely unhappy here, “Rabbji dushman ka bhi hamare jaisa haal na kare” (what we are facing God even our enemies should be spared of such conditions).

He adds, ‘the land that we have here even half of that land if government gives us, we will shift, we will have some peace of mind at least. Our youngsters have no jobs and BSF is now recruiting girls? Can girls fight? When bomb falls, Bibi will fall too’. And then he checked himself going in full Punjabi flow, as he sensed there was a woman sitting in the group.

Bunkers are still in place at different places in the village. Every morning in a tractor BSF jawans go to check if there are any footprints of anybody crossing over on the damp soil. Sometimes there have been instances of people crossing over from the other side and they hand over the intruder to the jawans, if they are seen as harmless are often sent back very rarely taken into custody. Nobody has gone from this side to the other side of the border, as they say “Kyun jayenge?” (why would we go?)

The barbed Wire fence on the border is quite new. Only done on the Indian side of the border, then there is No- Man’s land and then the Pakistani sarhad starts. Pakistani side has no wire or fence on their side.

On the question of militancy during the late 1980s-90s era, our questions were met with silences and then with unanimous murmurs of, ‘this part was not much affected.’ Later Subegh Singh added, ‘at that time there was no wire people did cross over to the other side for ‘training’ though’.

Religion at the Border

There is a big gurudwara at the Village divided into two parts, older part and a new recently built fancy part with a huge kitchen where langar arrangements are made to celebrate special occasions.

There is a Dargah greenest green which is now being maintained by Rajbeer Kaur and her family since its caretaker Muslims left for Pakistan. Kaur and her family know nothing about the Dargah, who is buried there, his name or genealogy of the Buzurg but has extreme reverence for the shrine of which she is the official caretaker now.
She had children after 16yrs of marriage and has immense faith in the buzurg’s powers. Inside the Dargah which is decorated with festive colorful buntings, and photos of all ten Gurus, Sai Baba and any other figure that Kaur and family may consider respectful or reverence- worthy are put up as a sacred symbol.

Village on the border has its heart at the right place.