The ceremonial beating retreat at the three joint checkposts at Attari-Wagah, Hussainiwala and Sadki along the Pakistan frontier in Punjab resumed on Tuesday, nearly a fortnight after it was suspended following Operation Sindoor.
Sources said the ceremony had started under altered protocols and in a restricted format without the symbolic opening of border gates during the flag-lowering ceremony and the customary handshake between the Border Security Force (BSF) and the Pakistan Rangers.
The traditional handshake during the border ceremony was suspended in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
The BSF said the ceremony was held exclusively for media personnel on Tuesday at 6pm, while the public would be allowed to attend from Wednesday.
The ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border, known as beating retreat, was introduced in 1959. The ceremony is a daily ritual conducted by the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers and involves synchronised marches, high kicks and flag-lowering on both sides before sunset, attracting up to 25,000 to 50,000 spectators daily.
A BSF official said armed soldiers once enacted a hostile parade while lowering their respective flags to the sound of bugles, but the animosity had been toned down over the past few years. The ceremony was toned down in 2010 for less hostility, included a handshake at the end of the ritual, and featured traditions like exchanging sweets during Eid and Diwali.
“The symbolic handshake between the guard commanders of the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers, along with the opening of the gates every evening before sunset, was the highlight of the ceremony that has existed since 1959 at Attari. The joint ceremony by the two forces was started at the other two points in later years,” said a BSF official.
According to him, the beating retreat ceremony has been resumed as the situation is “normalising” at the border.
Wagah is a village in Pakistan, while Attari is in India. Before Partition, they stood in the middle of the 48km distance between Amritsar and Lahore. Both villages had witnessed millions cross over to either side during Partition, but a signboard hurriedly put up to declare Wagah as a joint checkpost earned the village the status of an international border checkpoint between the two countries.
Every day, before sunset, thousands of people, including tourists, drive down from nearby Amritsar and other parts of Punjab to visit the border and attend the joint beating retreat ceremony. Pakistan citizens, too, come to their side of the border. The stands nearby have a capacity of 30,000. The ceremony marks the closure of the gates at the international border.
Several critics in the past have said the beating retreat ceremony should be done away with permanently, pointing out that the whole exercise looks like a “circus” and is demeaning to the armed forces.