M A I N   N E W S

Rangers do a U-turn, hold Retreat ceremony at Wagah
Perneet Singh
Tribune News Service

Normal ceremony from today BSF officials said both sides had agreed that the Retreat ceremony would not be held for three days. However, the Pakistani side disregarded its own request and allowed visitors on their side on Monday. The BSF held a truncated version of the ceremony. The ceremony will be held in the normal way Tuesday onwards. Bilateral trade suspended A day after the deadly suicide bomb attack at Wagah, uneasy calm prevailed at the Indian side of the Attari border even as the bilateral trade between the two countries has been temporarily suspended. P18 Sikh jatha crosses over to Pak A Sikh jatha from Canada crossed over to Pakistan to celebrate Guru Nanak Dev’s birth anniversary. P18

Attari, November 3
Within hours of requesting India to suspend the Retreat ceremony for three days, Pakistan on Monday held the flag-lowering ritual with pomp and show on its side of the border, leaving the BSF red-faced.

The ceremony took place on the Indian side too, but sans any crowd, as no visitors were allowed.

BSF officials said both sides had agreed on a request from Pakistan Rangers that the Retreat ceremony would not be held for three days. However, the Pakistani side disregarded its own request and allowed visitors on their side on Monday. Pak Rangers told the BSF officials at 4 pm today that they wish to hold the retreat ceremony, to which the BSF agreed.

Around 3,000 to 4,000 people were seen in the spectators' gallery on the Pakistan side to watch the ceremony. They cheered Pak Rangers and shouted pro-Pakistan slogans on loudspeaker. The gestures of Pak Rangers were more aggressive than the BSF jawans.

The spectators' gallery on the Indian side presented a picture of stark contrast with only four spectators with special invitees, mediapersons and BSF jawans occupying the chairs. A brief, truncated version of the ceremony was held on the Indian side.

When BSF officials led by Punjab Frontier IG Ashok Kumar reached the Attari border around 5 pm, they were surprised to hear loud cheering on the Pakistan side. Talking to the mediapersons, Ashok Kumar said: "They had requested us not to hold the ceremony for three days, but they changed their decision this evening. They did not clarify whether they will allow spectators. They must have changed their decision under some compulsion."

He said visitors on the Indian were asked to return. "We felt bad with the sequence of events today. The ceremony will be held in the normal way Tuesday onwards," he said. “Our side is completely secure. We are monitoring the situation closely," Ashok Kumar said. The BSF has increased vigil at the joint check post and also along the barbed wire fenced international border in Punjab, especially in the Amritsar sector, he said.

Thousands of tourists on the Indian side of the border returned disappointed as they were not allowed witness the ceremony. Raj Aloni, principal of a Mumbai-based school, said they were excited about the ceremony, but were disappointed when they came to know it has been cancelled. "We still came here, hoping that we may get an opportunity to at least see the border, but we were not allowed," she said.

Rajan Mishra from New Delhi also wished to experience the exuberance and revelry of the Retreat ceremony with his family. "We visited the Attari railway station as we had nowhere else to go," he said. A group of 78 Maharashtra residents led by Prakash Patole raised pro-India slogans before returning disappointed. Similarly, a group of 161 students from St Anthony Junior College, Agra, were disheartened to see the road to the border shut. Sanjana Aggarwal, a student, said they had been waiting for this day for the past last couple of months when their tour was planned.