Fazilka (Punjab), Sep 15 (IANS) Even as political tension simmers between India and Pakistan, the catastrophic floods ravaging both sides of Punjab have brought out rare moments of solidarity and shared humanity.
India’s Charda (where the sun rises) has witnessed one of the worst floods in recent history, with thousands of homes submerged, or damaged, crops destroyed, and thousands of families displaced and their livestock dead, while in Pakistan’s Lehnda (where sun sets) or West Punjab has reported more than two million people impacted as floods sweep the country’s eastern region.
The partition of 1947 divided Punjab into two parts and also divided historical Sikh sites related to the Punjabi heritage. For years, peace activists like the late legendary Delhi-based journalist Kuldeep Nayar, along with like-minded Pakistanis, were holding an annual candle vigil at the border in Attari-Wahga to jointly celebrate Pakistan and India’s independence.
In the current deluge, peace lovers and global humanitarian charities are on the ground on both sides of the border, along with the government agencies, delivering emergency meals, clean water, medical care, and temporary shelter.
Influencers, Trusts, and NGOs based in Baru Sahib in Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district are doing relief efforts in India’s Punjab. They have been visiting affected villages, providing aid, and using their social media platforms to raise awareness about the natural calamity that is impacted largely by the swollen Ravi River.
In a video posted on Instagram, an influencer, Raftaar Rai, said he was sitting close to the border of Charda and Lehnda Punjabs. Sitting along with local youngsters, he pointed out towards the devastation caused by floods beyond the international border fence. Capturing the video footage from Gulaba Bhaini village located in Fazilka district along with the zero line, he said volunteers, Nasser and Bakhar, are providing food and fodder to affected areas in Pakistan.
Accompanying local youngsters, who are working to support communities, influencer Rai said these youngsters met volunteers from Pakistan who came close to the fence to enquire about their well-being. He said they belonged to Mansa and Jaggard villages in Pakistan and showed videos of their marooned villages. After sharing thoughts, the influencer said both the Charda and Lehnda Punjabs have a deep emotional bond and historical ties, and it “is the only fence that divides the people. For the common man like us, they have to face the brunt. Those on the border have been told to vacate their houses, sometimes owing to shelling (from Pakistan) or due to floodwater”.
Locals say even amid tensions between the nuclear-armed nations, their spirit remains elated. The 553-km India-Pakistan border stretches across six districts in Punjab — Ferozepur, Fazilka, Tarn Taran, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, and Amritsar. Reports say 110 km of the fence near the zero line on the Indo-Pakistan international border has been impacted, and 90 posts of the Border Security Force (BSF) have been inundated.
Chandigarh-based India-Pakistan peace activist Chanchal Manohar Singh told IANS that the natural calamity has hit both Punjabs. “It is the international charities and NGOs that are working to rehabilitate people in both Punjabs with Guru Nanak’s teachings of kirt karo (work), nam japo (Worship), and vand cako (charity),” said Singh, who took 17 delegations to Pakistan and received five from Pakistan.
He’s the Chairman of the Society for Promotion of Peace and demanded restriction-free flood relief ‘sewa’ between the two nations. Even sacred sites in Pakistan have been affected. Floodwaters damaged areas around Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
Ravi Singh, CEO of an NGO in a post, said the impact of floods was more notable in Pakistan’s Punjab. “We are dealing with a lot of floods, the devastating floods, in Punjab. In the Indian side, the floods have caused very, very extensive destruction. On the Pakistani side, floods have caused even more damage. For us, everyone is equal. We don’t see religion, faith. In Pakistan’s Punjab, more impacted were poor people as they couldn’t live far from rivers and they have lost everything, from their homes to whatever they had,” he said in a video message on Sunday.
Another post reads, “While Charda Panjab struggles, the situation in Lehnda Panjab is far worse. Our teams are on the ground in Muzaffargarh district, Panjab — Pakistan, rescuing families and delivering urgent relief.”
Punjabi icon Jazzy B appreciates and acknowledges NGO’s continuous ‘sewa’ across flood-affected areas of Punjab in both India and Pakistan. As a goodwill gesture, India has alerted Pakistan about a potential flood in the Tawi River toward its neighbouring country. This comes despite the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) being in abeyance after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April.
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
–IANS
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