A drug addict sits in a drug rehabilitation centre which provides treatment to drug addicts. Addicts gather in abandoned buildings and then 'shoot-up'. Pakistan has more than four million drug addicts in its population of 170 million, according to figures compiled by the country's Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). PHOTO: AFP
"We have had to evacuate our village on several occasions in the fear of an attack," says Maan Singh, an area resident, reports BBC Urdu.
He recalled how they were compelled to do the same back in the Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971, as well as during the Kargil crisis in 1999. This time around, however, he says villagers refused to evacuate the area.
Ratan Singh Randhawa, general secretary of Sangharsh Sameti, a welfare organisation, says "the threat of an impending war looms large over the villages across the border".
Mental stress
JPS Bhatiya, a psychiatrist, says residents suffer from severe mental stress owing to the threat of war.
He says numerous patients from the area, mostly women, come to his clinic who suffer from panic disorders.
"When the men leave in the morning to work, women remain alone and have to live with the constant fear of an attack". He added that tensions increase if the farm is across the border fence.
Randhawa says that following the 2001 attack on Indian parliament, mines were laid in the entire area. "For one and half year, residents could not cultivate the land due to fear," he said.
Caught in the cross-hairs
A 3,000-km border lies between the two countries, of which 550kms fall in Punjab.
Around 1,837 villages lie near the bordering Punjab with a population of up to 200,000.
While dozens of villages settled on zero line (on the border itself) face a different kind of stress altogether.
Based on a study conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University, 17,000 farmers moved to the other side of the border owing to thorny fence placed by the Indian regime.
In order to work on these farms, one must show identification cards. The stay duration of farmers, and the decision regarding cultivation are all taken by border security forces (BSF).
Mann says farmers across the fence are only allowed to grow wheat and rice.
According to a villager Gurnam Singh, "we cannot cultivate vegetables or fruits because they require alot of attention while the BSF open farm gates thrice a week only".
Turning to addiction
Bhatiya says 20% of this population is addicted to drugs or alcohol. "They start using drugs to overcome the fear and stress, however, eventually become addicted to it".
IG Police MF Farooqi says drug epidemic has transformed these areas.
Farooqi, who ran an awareness campaign against the menace of drug abuse in Amritsar, adds that the demand for drugs is on the rise day by day.
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