Stone effect: Visitors not allowed at Attari-Wagah retreat ceremony

BSF to lodge protest with Pak Rangers at commandant-level meeting; remains mum on how 300 spectators were allowed at the joint checkpost on Sunday

A day after the stone-hurling incident from the Pakistan side during the retreat ceremony, the Indian authorities didn’t allow visitors to the gallery at the Attari-Wagah joint checkpost on Monday.

BSF jawans sending back visitors who wanted to watch the evening flag-lowering retreat ceremony at Attari border on Monday.(Gurpreet Singh/T Photo)

Around 300 spectators were allowed to witness the ceremony on Sunday, but on Monday, police and Border Security Force (BSF) men asked visitors to return.

BSF deputy inspector general RS Kataria said: “Nobody was allowed at the joint checkpost on Monday following the civil administration orders.”

Not allowed to go up to the border, visitors click a photo with the board showing distances to Pakistani cities, near Attari on Monday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)

Kataria said the BSF would lodge a protest with the Pakistan Rangers at the commandant-level meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Amritsar deputy commissioner Varun Roojam said: “We issued an order on September 29 not allowing visitors to the retreat ceremony for security reasons. The order is still in force.”

However, BSF officials remained tightlipped when asked how 300 people were allowed at the checkpost on Sunday despite the government order.

A stone was thrown from the Pakistan side during the retreat ceremony on Sunday. A section of Pakistani spectators also raised anti-India and pro-Kashmir slogans.

The BSF had on Thursday suspended the ceremony following escalation in tension between India and Pakistan following surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC) to destroy terror launch pads in Pak-occupied-Kashmir.