Border area farmers stage dharna outside BSF headquarters

Jalandhar, Sept 13 (UNI) Farmers from border areas of Punjab today staged a dharna outside the Border Security Force's Frontier Headquarters here.

Farmers from four border districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Taran Tarn and Ferozpur demanded an end to harassment and humiliation of farmers at the hands of BSF personnel when they go to cultivate thier fields across the defence wire.

They also demanded immidiate release of compenstation pending for the last many years and setting up of a Border Area Development Board for the development of the area.

The dharna, which was organised by the Border Area Sangresh Committee, was addressed among others by its state president Arsal Singh Sandhu, state secretary Shakti Fazilka, Rattan Singh Randhawa and Raghbir Singh.

The leaders, while narrating the woes and difficulties faced by the people of the border area, said that people not only faced border disputes and tensions but natural calamities like floods oftenly.

''The farmers have to vacate their houses whenever there is a dispute or tension at the border'', they said adding that no goverment had ever taken any concrete or sustainable step to ameliorate their condition.

They alleged that the directions of Kapoor Commission were violated while fixing the defence wire and as a result, thousands of acres of land had gone out of the reach of the peasants.

The leaders threatened stage dharna outside the offices of DCs and BSF DIGs in all the four districts next month if thier their demands were not met, also they would submit demand charter to MPs, MLAs and Ministers of the border areas.

UNI