Through war and peace and border lines, farmers eke out a living in a Punjab frontline village

“Apna toh ji bas rab rakha!” (Only God can protect us), 70-year-old Dara Singh says about the conflict between India and Pakistan. Singh is a resident of Burj village in Punjab’s Amritsar district, a few hundred metres away from the India-Pakistan border, but miles away from the most basic amenities.

Burj residents are mostly farmers with small land holdings. Many of the farms span the frontier, partly in India and partly in Pakistan. Collectively, the village has about 300 acres of land that lies beyond the line of control that marks India’s boundary with Pakistan. As they straddle two hostile countries, “Only God can protect us” is a common sentiment that the village residents share not just during war, but also at times of peace.

Over the past week, their farmlands and livelihoods are, once again, caught in the crossfire of conflict.

Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, at the end of April, which escalated tensions between India and Pakistan, Amarjeet Kaur, the sarpanch of Burj received an unofficial call from the nearby Border Security Force outpost. The village was asked to harvest all the wheat that they had cultivated on their land that lies across the border, in Pakistan. “The official from BSF told me...

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