Punjab feels the heat

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-family:="" times="" new="" roman="" class="author">Ajay Bharadwaj</span><br />CHANDIGARH: Though no loss of life has been reported in the firing by Pakistan army in the Pathankot sector during the last three days, Punjab has started feeling the heat of the ongoing Indo-Pak conflict.<br />The spillover from the neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir has caused anxiety to the state authorities because it is for the first time that Pakistan has sought to ignite trouble on the recognised international border, which, otherwise, was so far confined to the disputed line of control area in Jammu and Kashmir.<br />The Punjab villages, where Pakistan has resorted to shelling, are located adjacent the Jammu and Kashmir border.<br />After a review meeting in Pathankot, the civil and the army authorities were convinced that Pakistan was indulging in a calculated misadventure.They admit that the shelling had the consent of senior army officers heading the units deployed along the border in Pakistan.<br />Initially it was presumed that the Pakistan army, while seeking to target Jammu and Kashmir areas, might have accidentally targeted the Punjab villages.<br />Worried over the possibility of the conflict extending further on the Indo-Pak border, state home secretary SK Sinha said the situation on the border was being closely monitored in view of these developments.<br />He said he had deliberations with senior officials in all the three border districts - Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Ferozepur - to ensure that interests of villagers close to the border were taken care of.<br />He said similar panic had also gripped people in Khemkaran sector in Amritsar district. Panic-stricken people in more than a dozen villages are reported to have started migrating to safer places.<br /></div> </div>