Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 22: The border villagers of Samba and Hiranagar were disillusioned with Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde not visiting the border villages, which were being shelled and fired heavily by Pakistani Rangers for past about a week now.
“We were expecting Mr Shinde to visit the border villages to see and listen to our problems but that didn’t happen,” said a resident, Jaman Singh, of village Paharpur on phone from where three militants had reportedly sneaked in on September 26 and carried out attacks at Hiranagar police station and Mehsar Army camp at Samba.
A group of border villagers had reached Hiranagar to meet Mr Shinde but they couldn’t get an opportunity as Minister for Cooperatives Dr Manohar Lal Sharma and Congress MLC Subash Gupta managed meeting of a delegation of their own workers with the Minister and submitted him a memorandum.
“Manohar Lal hailed from Billawar. He has never visited the border areas. How can he represent us? How can he apprise the Minister of our problems when he is not aware of our grievances?” asked another civilian, who had reached Hiranagar along with local MLA Durga Dass but didn’t get an opportunity to meet the Home Minister.
“The Home Minister should have meet the local people and not the `sarkaari’ delegation headed by the Minister,” they observed.
The local people of Hiranagar while hailing Mr Shinde for his bold decision to visit police station were of the view that he should have also visited the residence of a shopkeepers, who was killed in the fidayeen attack opposite the police station on September 26.
Earlier, there had been reports that Mr Shinde would visit Paharpur sector in Hiranagar. Authorities had also conducted trial run of bullet proof bunkers from Hiranagar to Paharpur for the visit of the Home Minister. However, he conducted aerial survey of the borders.
The border villagers of Samba, Ramgarh and other places also rang up the Excelsior to convey their displeasure about Mr Shinde not visiting the border areas to see the plight of villagers, who were braving shells and firing of Pakistan Rangers.
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