Shot by Pakistani troops, Jammu man bedridden for past 12 years

JAMMU - For Santokh Singh, life came to a standstill on a January morning in 1998. While tending his cattle from the veranda of his house, he was suddenly hit by a hail of bullets. He survived, but “I cannot stand up. At best, I can sit for a few minutes,” he says, 12 years after that morning.

In his late 40s, Singh lives in Chandu Chak village in Ranbir Singh Pura (RS Pura) sector, some 30 km west of Jammu, close to the border with Pakistan.

He then earned his living working as a farm hand.

But fate took a nasty turn Jan 9, 1998.

Prior to the ceasefire signed in November 2003, exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops along the border was almost a daily affair.

“It was that time that I was hit by bullets. I fell unconscious, and the neighbours took to me hospital. I was admitted for several weeks,” he told a group of visiting reporters Thursday.

His surgeries were successful, but multiple injuries in the abdomen, combined with crippling poverty, meant recovery was slow and sporadic.

“The government did nothing for me. We hear a lot about the government doing so much for the people, but I haven’t seen any help,” he said.

The Jammu and Kashmir government provides jobs to the family members of those who are killed by enemy fire. But no such provision exists for those injured or their dependent families.

But amid all the misery, Santokh retains a basic human compassion.

“It is not my story alone. I am sure there are others too, suffering the same fate,” he said.