Retreat ceremony at border cut short; gates remain closed, no handshakes

Following the recent Indo-Pak conflict, people full of patriotic feelings praised the armed forces at the retreat ceremony that resumed at Attari near Amritsar on Tuesday. The visitors clapped and cheered the BSF jawans as slogans of ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ rent the air.

It was for the first time that the flag-lowering ritual was truncated with the iron gates between the two countries remaining closed, and the traditional gestures of stepping into no man’s land and shaking hands – notably absent. The retreat ceremony introduced in 1965 had been disrupted only during the Indo-Pak wars.

A day after India closed the Attari border following the Pahalgam attack, the BSF scaled down the ceremony at the joint check-post on April 24. Following this, during the 25-minute ceremony, BSF personnel and Pakistan Rangers lowered their national flags, but did not shake hands as the gates remained closed and the ceremony was off limits for the general public.

Its resumption brought a renewed vigour to the patriotism in people.

For 23-year-old Harshita Chauhan from Ajmer, the recent conflict has reaffirmed “our love and respect” for the men in uniform. Visiting Attari for the ninth time, she says this time she came specially to show gratitude to BSF personnel who guard the borders. The valour shown by the armed forces during the recent confrontation with Pakistan was exemplary, she says.

Holding the national flag, she, along with her family, walks up to the check post raising patriotic slogans.

After watching the ceremony, Pardeep Parmar from Ghaziabad says the spectators were happy that at last India chastised Pakistan for indulging in terror attacks.

Sunil and Sri Ram from Jodhpur, who were visiting Amritsar to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple, came to see the ceremony after they learnt that it had resumed.

The ceremony saw visitors coming from across the country and congratulating the BSF personnel. Men, women and children were seen dancing to the tunes of patriotic songs. For some, it provided an opportunity to vent their anger against Pakistan.

On the other side of the border, Pakistani public was busy raising slogans in favour of their country.

The resumption of the ceremony also brought cheer to the shopkeepers who did a brisk business selling souvenirs and other items.

Punjab