Pahalgam attack: India scales down BSF's ceremonial display at Attari

In the wake of the in Jammu and Kashmir, the Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday said a calibrated decision has been taken to scale down the ceremonial display during the Retreat Ceremony, a daily military exercise that takes place before sunset at Punjab’s Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki borders along Pakistan.

On normal occasions, hundreds of spectators, including foreigners, gather to witness the first-of-its-kind iconic ceremony which has an electrifying effect on the boisterous audience, mainly on the Attari-Wagah border near Amritsar in Punjab.

With tensions between India and Pakistan as New Delhi mounts a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad, blaming it for the deadly attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, the BSF announced key changes that include suspension of the symbolic handshake of the Indian guard commander with the counterpart guard commander, and gates to remain closed during the ceremony.

“This step reflects India’s serious concern over cross-border hostilities and reaffirms that peace and provocation cannot coexist,” the BSF Punjab Frontier said.

The beating retreat ceremony, comprising the flag-lowering and a ceremonial drill, has seen a military exercise and lowering of the national flags of both India and Pakistan just before dusk since 1959.

During the retreat ceremony on festivals such as Diwali, Eid and Independence Day, border forces of both India and Pakistan — the BSF and the Pakistan Rangers — exchange sweets and greetings to mark the traditional bonhomie between the forces.

On Thursday, there was a small audience at the Attari border to witness the ceremony, along the Radcliffe Line between India and Pakistan, in which border gates are closed for the night.

The joint check post (JCP), which comprises a gallery with a capacity to accommodate nearly 25,000 spectators to witness the flag-lowering ceremony, was closed for spectators in the first week of March 2020 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The BSF had resumed the ceremony for public viewing with a limited audience of 300 after over a year-and-a-half. The entry to the JCP gallery is on a first come, first served basis.

The Attari-Wagah JCP is some 30 km from Amritsar and 22 km from Lahore in Pakistan. India had chosen to skip the tradition in 2019 over growing incidents of ceasefire violations across the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir.

After the surgical strikes by Indian forces across the borders in September 2016, the BSF did not offer sweets to the Pakistan Rangers.

India responded to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam on 22 April by announcing that it would shut the integrated check post (ICP) at Attari in Amritsar along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab with immediate effect. India also the Indus water treaty until Pakistan credibly and irrevocably abjures its support for cross-border terrorism.