Two Kasur villagers killed by Indian border fire laid to rest

Funeral prayers were held in Kasur on Sunday for two Pakistani civilians killed when India’s Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire near the international border, with a large number of people attending, state-run Radio Pakistan reported.

Azmat Rasool and Mohsin Jatt were buried in their ancestral village of Jattan Wali Haveli, Lidhar, The Express Tribune reported.

Shot without warning

On Friday, three residents of Ladhar village moved a few steps beyond a border pillar, and BSF personnel opened fire on them without warning, according to reports. Two were killed and the third was injured.

The grieving families said they would not be cowed. “If the cowardly Indian forces have the courage, they should face the resilient Pakistani nation directly,” they said. Residents of the border areas condemned what they called a “heinous” and shameful act.

Pakistan protests

On Saturday, the Foreign Office summoned India’s chargé d’affaires and lodged a strong protest over the killings in the Bedian sector.

“The BSF personnel resorted to unprovoked lethal force against unarmed civilians. Such use of force was wholly unjustified and grossly disproportionate, resulting in the tragic loss of two precious lives. Pakistan categorically rejects any attempt to mischaracterise the deceased as ‘infiltrators’,” the Foreign Office said.

It said the killings were a serious violation of fundamental human rights, including the right to life. Pakistan called on India to:

• Investigate: conduct an immediate, transparent and credible investigation
• Punish: take disciplinary and legal action against those responsible
• Report back: formally share the findings and action taken with Pakistan
• Prevent: respect international law and border procedures, exercise maximum restraint, and stop such incidents happening again

A pattern of false claims

The killings came days after the ISPR Director General, Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, exposed what he called an Indian “false flag operation”. India had claimed a former Pakistan Army soldier was killed as a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The DG ISPR presented the man alive before the media.

A long toll on the border

Civilians living along the border and the Working Boundary have paid a heavy price for Indian firing over the past decade. In October 2016, two civilians, including a toddler, were killed in the Harpal, Pukhlian and Charwah sectors, according to the ISPR. In May 2018, four members of one family, a woman, her two daughters and a son, were killed near Sialkot, and the death toll rose to 16 during a six-day confrontation. In 2019, a 10-year-old boy was killed in the Sharda sector. The situation improved after the two countries reaffirmed their ceasefire in February 2021.

Why it matters

Shooting unarmed villagers who stray a few steps across a border pillar, and then calling them infiltrators, shows how India treats ordinary Pakistanis. Islamabad’s demand for an investigation puts the burden squarely on New Delhi, at a time when tensions between the two countries over Kashmir and the Indus Waters Treaty are already high. Read our report on Pakistan rejecting India’s Kashmir claim at the UN.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune and Radio Pakistan.