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Gujarat village wants a road, too, to Pakistan: The Indian Express
Suigam, Jan 07: The search for peace is set to open many doors on the Indo-Pak border, but unfortunately for villages of Banaskantha, none of these roads leads to them. The 50 kilometres which separate Suigam villagers from their relatives in Sindh, Pakistan, remain unbridgeable for most.
Suigam, Jan 07: The search for peace is set to open many doors on the Indo-Pak border, but unfortunately for villages of Banaskantha, none of these roads leads to them. The 50 kilometres which separate Suigam villagers from their relatives in Sindh, Pakistan, remain unbridgeable for most.
Being extremely poor, these villagers can neither afford flights nor the Samjhauta Express. But if there was a road, as proposed in Rajasthan and Punjab, they say they would have walked across, or just gone on a cart. ‘‘The border is not very far from here..if only we could go and see what happened to our relatives...and our fields too,’’ says 63-year-old Virjibhai.
Before Partition, one of the oldest land-trading routes from here to Sindh and further into Pakistan hinterland passed through Suigam, a village less than 40 km from the border in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. The old Customs House, Customs bungalow and checkposts built by the British can still be seen here, standing in a dilapidated condition.
Hunderds of farm labourers from here would walk across the Rann to work in fields in the Sindh area. ‘‘Many youths married girls in villages there, some settled there itself,’’ recalls Movjabhai.
Partition changed that, and the ones who came across during the 1971 war totally cut themselves from their homeland. They were later given Indian citizenship along with relief of Rs 10,000 and land by late prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Virjibhai’s memory may have become a bit hazy with age, but he still clearly remembers the night during the 1971 war when he, his family and about 90 others crossed over from Padhora village in Sindh to Suigam. They were immediately dubbed the Hindu refugees by the locals, and settled in a locality that is still simply called the Refugee Camp. About 150 families live there now. Many of them have relatives and ancestral houses in Sindh besides old friends.
‘‘I was about 30 years old then and I remember walking for two days with my wife and two sons,’’ says Virjibhai, pointing to one of his sons ploughing a field nearby. ‘‘I used to live in Padhora village. I was born there and had about 200 acres. My relatives lived close by. During the war we fled one night and walked to Suigam. Only a few Hindu families were able to cross over and I don’t know what happened to my other relatives.’’
Picking up a pod of moong dal, Virjibhai adds fondly: ‘‘We used to grow excellent crops like this there.’’
‘‘The border is only 40-45 km from here across the Rann. A kuchcha road already exists from the border up to 23 km to the Nagabet temple, visited by hundreds of people. From there it is only a matter of another 25 km or so. Even if a kuchcha road is made...we can walk or go on carts to see our relatives,’’ says Bhurrabhai.
The kuchcha road from Nagabet up to Boriabet is used mainly by defence personnel. Just after that, the cement pillars marking the international border begin. Beyond that the Rann ends and farmers working in fields across the border can be seen.
Customs officials in Santalpur say the Suigam Customs Road used to be very busy because of salt pans in Khara Ghoda in Rann of Kutch. Head Constable Babubhai Oza, Suigam Land Customs, who has been serving since 1976, says: ‘‘According to records, this was a major trading route. Rice, cloth, groundnut and jute were taken on horse and camel carts to Sindh and Hyderabad (in Pakistan)...There were checkposts at every mile.’’
Much as it would like to, Suigam hasn’t forgotten those memories. And the reopening of the border, proposed increase in the number of planes and trains plying between the two countries have only sharpened them.
‘‘Is it really possible to find our relatives after all these years?’’ asks an incredulous Chillabhai. ‘‘I heard on radio a plane has come bringing several people from Pakistan...Who are they?’’
Being extremely poor, these villagers can neither afford flights nor the Samjhauta Express. But if there was a road, as proposed in Rajasthan and Punjab, they say they would have walked across, or just gone on a cart. ‘‘The border is not very far from here..if only we could go and see what happened to our relatives...and our fields too,’’ says 63-year-old Virjibhai.
Before Partition, one of the oldest land-trading routes from here to Sindh and further into Pakistan hinterland passed through Suigam, a village less than 40 km from the border in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district. The old Customs House, Customs bungalow and checkposts built by the British can still be seen here, standing in a dilapidated condition.
Hunderds of farm labourers from here would walk across the Rann to work in fields in the Sindh area. ‘‘Many youths married girls in villages there, some settled there itself,’’ recalls Movjabhai.
Partition changed that, and the ones who came across during the 1971 war totally cut themselves from their homeland. They were later given Indian citizenship along with relief of Rs 10,000 and land by late prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Virjibhai’s memory may have become a bit hazy with age, but he still clearly remembers the night during the 1971 war when he, his family and about 90 others crossed over from Padhora village in Sindh to Suigam. They were immediately dubbed the Hindu refugees by the locals, and settled in a locality that is still simply called the Refugee Camp. About 150 families live there now. Many of them have relatives and ancestral houses in Sindh besides old friends.
‘‘I was about 30 years old then and I remember walking for two days with my wife and two sons,’’ says Virjibhai, pointing to one of his sons ploughing a field nearby. ‘‘I used to live in Padhora village. I was born there and had about 200 acres. My relatives lived close by. During the war we fled one night and walked to Suigam. Only a few Hindu families were able to cross over and I don’t know what happened to my other relatives.’’
Picking up a pod of moong dal, Virjibhai adds fondly: ‘‘We used to grow excellent crops like this there.’’
‘‘The border is only 40-45 km from here across the Rann. A kuchcha road already exists from the border up to 23 km to the Nagabet temple, visited by hundreds of people. From there it is only a matter of another 25 km or so. Even if a kuchcha road is made...we can walk or go on carts to see our relatives,’’ says Bhurrabhai.
The kuchcha road from Nagabet up to Boriabet is used mainly by defence personnel. Just after that, the cement pillars marking the international border begin. Beyond that the Rann ends and farmers working in fields across the border can be seen.
Customs officials in Santalpur say the Suigam Customs Road used to be very busy because of salt pans in Khara Ghoda in Rann of Kutch. Head Constable Babubhai Oza, Suigam Land Customs, who has been serving since 1976, says: ‘‘According to records, this was a major trading route. Rice, cloth, groundnut and jute were taken on horse and camel carts to Sindh and Hyderabad (in Pakistan)...There were checkposts at every mile.’’
Much as it would like to, Suigam hasn’t forgotten those memories. And the reopening of the border, proposed increase in the number of planes and trains plying between the two countries have only sharpened them.
‘‘Is it really possible to find our relatives after all these years?’’ asks an incredulous Chillabhai. ‘‘I heard on radio a plane has come bringing several people from Pakistan...Who are they?’’