Life on the Edge for BSF Wives….

Ajeet Singh*

(Radio-Vaani 5)

Mrs Ekka, my neighbour’s wife suddenly held me by both my wrists and asked me to tell the truth as I stood at the entrance of their room conveying her the message that we need to go to the Army Base Hospital in Srinagar and a vehicle was on its way to pick us up.

Her husband,  BSF Assistant Commandant Ekka who lived in the room next to mine in the Safe Zone declared Tourist Reception Centre, had been injured in an encounter with militants in Chhanpora locality of  the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state. Message had been received on my landline phone as only I had this facility on the second floor of the tourist hotel  under security.

She feared the worst. I  told her that I had been to the hospital for a coverage and met her husband who was slightly injured in the arm and he was fine after some sort of first aid only. She didn’t believe me.

   “Why didn’t he come home if it was an injury requiring first aid only?

“Please tell me the truth”, she pleaded and clinched both my wrists as if not to let me go without telling her the truth.

Actually, I had not been to the hospital. Ekka’s officer Deputy Commandant Garg had told me on phone about the incident and requested me to bring Mrs Ekka to the hospital. He also cautioned me to ensure that Mrs Ekka was not scared as I conveyed the information.

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We locked our rooms and came downstairs where a vehicle was waiting for us. It was a 20-minute journey. Mrs Ekka  was tense but silent.  She was almost continuously looking at me intently as if to read my mind to know whether or not I had told her the truth about her husband.

This was quite unnerving for me also and since I was relying only on what I heard from his colleague, I was not sure what I would see when we reach there. ‘What if Ekka’s injuries were grave or he was ….. no more’ I thought to myself. I started praying silently to control my negative thoughts.  

 She suddenly turned to the driver and asked him if he had seen her husband.

     “He is ok madam. Deputy sahib told me”, he said.

That seemed of not much relief to Mrs. Ekka but I think, I took some solace out of it.

Soon we were in the ward where Ekka was admitted. He seemed good and was visibly happy to see his wife though he said, ” Hey! You need not have bothered. See it is only a minor injury near the elbow”.

Trying to control her tears, Mrs Ekka saw the injured arm and turned her face towards the wall as if thanking the Almighty for saving the life of her husband. After all, it was a matter of few inches in the bullet’s trajectory and it could have hit a vital organ in the upper body.  Perhaps to ease the tension in the air, Deputy Commandant Garg informed us that Ekka had killed a militant in the encounter.

She looked at me this time with folded hands.

“Thank you so much sir and I am sorry if I behaved cowardly. Like army wives, we the BSF wives too live constantly praying for the safety of our husbands and fearing the worst. It is a life always on the edge”.

This was one of the first incidents of this nature which I witnessed during my initial period of posting in Srinagar as the correspondent of All India Radio. I saw many more during 1990s some of which I have been sharing on this website.

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*Writer Ajeet Singh was AIR’s correspondent in Jammu and Kashmir for over 19 years.  He retired as   Director of News, Doordarshan, Hisar.

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