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Handshake missing as retreat ceremony resumes at Attari
In the wake of the precision strikes at terror launch pads in Pakistan by Indian armed forces under Operation Sindoor, the BSF had suspended the beating retreat ceremonies at all joint check posts — Attari-Wagah (Amritsar), Hussainiwala (Ferozepur) and Sadki (Fazilka) — in Punjab nearly two weeks ago.
After nearly two weeks, the beating retreat ceremony was on Tuesday resumed at the Attari-Wagah joint check post on India-Pakistan border, but no handshake took place between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers during the flag-lowering ceremony.
Visitors were allowed but their presence was low. It was 20% of the average footfall in the spectator galleries as a sizeable portion was empty. On Pakistan’s side, the galleries had no visitor as the few present there appeared to be labourers working at the check post.
Apart from no handshake, gates on the zero line also remained closed. Both the developments are materialising since April 24, when the ceremonial display by the BSF at the retreat ceremony at Attari, Hussainwala and Sadki in Punjab was scaled down against the backdrop of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people in Kashmir.
The symbolic handshake between BSF guard commanders and Pakistan Rangers, along with the opening of the gates every morning after sunrise, had been the highlight of the ceremony since 1959 at Attari. The ceremony at the other two points began in later years.
On Tuesday, the BSF jawans performed the parade with the same enthusiasm amid support from the spectators who raised patriotic slogans.
In the wake of the precision strikes at terror launch pads in Pakistan by Indian armed forces under Operation Sindoor, the BSF had suspended the beating retreat ceremonies at all joint check posts — Attari-Wagah (Amritsar), Hussainiwala (Ferozepur) and Sadki (Fazilka) — in Punjab nearly two weeks ago.
