JOIN US This nondescript small border township of Dina Nagar in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, belies reality that a horrendous terror strike, the first ever in this township, took place just 72-hours ago.
The ground reality here presents a picture in total contrast to what many would have otherwise imagined for a place where heavily armed militants ran amok on its streets killing innocent people at the break of dawn on Monday.
Dina Nagar was back to normalcy within just a day after terror hit its bounds. The markets opened till late and its busy, albeit cluttered roads, meandering through an overwhelming number of home-cum-shops alongside, are once again clock-o-block with slipshod fruits and vegetable layouts, wrongly parked autos, street food vendors, and of course, its people.
In fact, the center of the terror strike, the police station in Dina Nagar right on the road, has turned into a “hot spot” for locals and visitors. Woman, children and youth, who would have perhaps never seen a police station in their entire life, made it a point to have a glimpse of the place that grabbed headlines.
Outside the police station amid the presence of the men in Khakhi and beacon-studded official vehicles and OB vans are an increasing number of curious visitors, many locals, who want to be a part of the action or whatever remains of it.
The top stories of the Columbus hospital bang opposite the police station has turned into a pivotal location for patients and attendants alike to get an advantage view of the troubled police station. Work all over goes on as usual even as street corners and shop corridors are abuzz with talks of the terror strike and the multiple uncorroborated theories on the attack.
The township is left with stories of both valor and sorrow that will continue to remind all of the vulnerability that Punjab encounters on account of this “new-found threat” to its borders. Tersem Lal, a local auto driver, points towards a roadside Dhaba where indiscriminate gun shots by the militants consumed its first target. “He was the sole bread winner of the family,” Lal told Deccan Herald.
The high protein semi-cooked lentil in the oversized utensil just inside of the tandoor at the dhaba is all soaked with blood.
The locals point towards the tandoor and the adjacent cigarette vend sprayed with bullet marks. Just then one among them laughs it out telling the vendor to not to open his shop that early if he wants to escape the militant bullets.
Even on the day when the operation was underway to flush out terrorists, a large number of youth and elderly weren’t indoors, in fact, they were curiously out on the streets even as their persisted a looming danger of the possibility of more militants on the prowl in the area.
People of Dina Nagar are celebrating a victory that came at a terrible cost.