BSF halts border gates opening, scales down retreat ceremony

Amritsar: Following India's decision to suspend passenger movement through the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at the Attari Indo-Pak international border after the Pahalgam terror attack, the Border Security Force (BSF) chose not to open the border gates or engage in the customary handshake with their counterparts from the Pakistan Rangers during the daily Beating Retreat ceremony.
The decision was implemented at the Attari international border, Sadiqi (Fazilka) and Hussainiwala (Firozpur) border posts, while the security of all three border posts was further intensified.
Atul Fulzele, inspector general, BSF, Punjab Frontier, said on Thursday that while the BSF would continue to conduct the daily flag-lowering ceremonies at Attari, Sadiqi, and Hussainiwala, it would neither open the border gates nor engage in the customary handshake with the Pakistan Rangers. He further said that in light of the tensions between the two countries, the BSF deployed Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) and implemented anti-drone measures along with other security measures at all three border posts as well as along the international border with Pakistan.
28 leave for Pak
At the same time cutting short their visit, many Pakistani nationals reached the Attari international border on their way back home on Thursday. As many as 105 passengers arrived from Pakistan, while 28 left for Pakistan, and their numbers could increase manifold in the next couple of days.
Sheikh Fazal, a resident of Karachi who travelled to India with members of his extended family to attend a family function, said they arrived on April 15 on a 45-day visa. However, they were compelled to cut their visit short and return following the Pahalgam attack.
Similarly, Mansoor, another Pakistani national who was in India on a 90-day visa, said that innocent individuals like him were being made to suffer for the actions of others.
Over 300 Sikh devotees cross border
On the other hand, the movement of Sikh devotees to Pakistan through the ICP at Dera Baba Nanak remained unaffected on Thursday. A total of 493 devotees registered for a day-long pilgrimage to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan via the Kartarpur corridor. Fulzele said that of these, 334 devotees crossed the border to pay obeisance at the revered Sikh shrine, where Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh Guru, spent the final 18 years of his life. The devotees were scheduled to return to India by evening.
BOX
TRANSIT TIES TORN
Samjhauta suspension
Various transportation means between the two countries had come to a standstill following the strained relations between the two countries. The Samjhauta Express used to run between Attari (India) and Lahore (Pakistan) every Thursday and Monday, covering a distance of nearly 29 km. The train remained suspended from Dec 10, 1992, to Jan 1, 2003, as an aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and then from Dec 31, 2001, to Jan 15, 2004, and then post-Pulwama attack. On Aug 8, 2019, the service was suspended by Pakistan following the revocation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The goods train running between the two borders, which makes around 20 interchanges in a month, has also been suspended.
Box
Buses stop!
Amritsar-Lahore bus service was inaugurated on Jan 24, 2006
Amritsar-Nankana Sahib bus service was inaugurated on March 24, 2006
Sada-e-Sarhad, Delhi-Lahore bus service began on March 16, 1999
Bus services between the two nations were suspended following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001
In Jan 2015, Pakistan restricted the movement of the Amritsar-Lahore, Amritsar-Nankana Sahib, and Delhi-Lahore bus services up to the Wagah (Pakistan) border only, citing security reasons.
Instead of going to their destinations, the bus services culminate and depart from Wagah.
Security up in Chamba
Chamba senior superintendent of police Abhishek Yadav said that after the Pahalgam incident, the police have strengthened its posts bordering Kathua, Doda, and Kishtwar districts of neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir. Two companies of Indo Indo-Tibetan Border Police were also deployed at several places in Chamba. The sensitivity of the Chamba-Doda border stems from the events of Aug 3, 1998, in which Pakistan-sponsored militants infiltrated from Doda into Chamba and brutally shot dead 35 migrant labourers in the villages of Kalaban and Satrundi in Chamba district following which Chamba police set up permanent posts on inter-state roads and hills. The SSP said that, apprehending the influx of tourists into the popular destinations of Chamba, police also took suitable measures at places including Khajjiar.
MSID:: 120584802 413 |