From scowls to smiles at Wagah

AMRITSAR: Indian border guards at the Wagah check post on the Pakistan border have abandoned aggressive postures adopted during the daily beating retreat ceremony held at sunset.

“The Border Security Force (BSF) has decided to drop the practice of adopting aggressive postures during the ceremony when both countries lower their national flags,” senior BSF officials said.

“This change has been brought into practice and now neither the BSF nor the Pakistan Rangers will adopt aggressive postures during the ceremony, but will smile at the time of the parade,” BSF Inspector General Arvind Ranjan said.
BSF jawans will no longer take their feet to an unnatural height and aggressively stomp during the drill, and Pakistan too has begun responding to this gesture, Ranjan said.

The ceremony at the Wagah check post is a major draw for tourists, with hundreds of people gathering on the Indian and Pakistani sides of the frontier to witness it every day.

“We should not fall into the trap and come out with uncalled for postures even when our counterparts tempt us to do so. Under any circumstances, we have to maintain the dignity of this solemn occasion,” Ranjan said. “Now, there is a need to change the aggressive body gestures when relations between the two nations are improving.”

A similar decision was taken during a four-day meeting held in Lahore on March 24, 2004, and this was partially implemented over the past two years, officials said. The re-fashioned Wagah parade comes ahead of the resumption of peace talks on November 14. The talks were put on hold following the July train bombings that killed 186 people in Mumbai.