“Beating the Retreat” ceremony at Wagah border to be less aggressive

WAGAH - Spectators converging at the Wagah Border will soon miss the high aggression as often displayed during the “Beating the Retreat” ceremony here by the border guards of India and Pakistan.

Two years ago, in a bid to support the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), the Indian and Pakistan border guards had decided to do away with the aggressive gesture during the beating the retreat ceremony but failed to implement the decision on ground.

HOwever, now the Border Security Force has started practicing the toned-down gestures. In response, the Pakistani Rangers have also decided to respond to their Indian counterparts.

Moreover, the lowering of the flags, called “Beating the Retreat”, may soon see the female cops of the Border Security Force (BSF) becoming a permanent feature of the ceremony conducted every evening at the India-Pakistan joint check post of the Attari border.

Initially, two women constables will perform duty of pilots before daily retreat ceremony, wearing ceremonial dress.

Earlier, women constables used to guard BOP’s gates, frisking of women folks at the International Border gates as the latter would go beyond barbed fence to work in their fields, and manage crowd at Attari during the retreat ceremony among its other responsibilities. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)