[Bengia Ajum]
Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the Attari-Wagah border located a few kms away from Amritsar city on the Indian side of Punjab.
The lowering of the flags ceremony conducted at the Attari-Wagah border is very popular and tourists from across the world visit Amritsar just to witness the ceremony. The lowering of flags is a daily military practice conducted by India’s BSF and Pakistani Rangers since 1959 when the sun sets.
The drill is characterised by elaborate and rapid dance-like manoeuvres and raising legs as high as possible, which have been described as “colourful” by many. The drill is also a symbol of friendship between two countries that suffered a painful partition in 1947. The Attari-Wagah border check post is also important for the trade between India and Pakistan.
My local Punjabi friend, who works as a journalist in Amritsar, luckily managed to arrange a VIP pass and therefore we got a seat near the gate where the lowering of flag ceremony is conducted. Therefore I had the best view of the Pakistani side.
Elaborate seating arrangements have been made on both sides of the border, so that people of the two countries can witness the event. The Indian side has a bigger seating capacity in comparison to Pakistan. On the day I arrived, the seating galleries on both sides were packed. Patriotic songs were being played through loudspeakers. Slogans of ‘India Zindabad’ and ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ could be heard from both sides of the border.
Even though there is an element of aggressiveness in the lowering of flag drill, the most beautiful part was to see the BSF jawan and a Pakistan Ranger shake hands with a smile. As I had the opportunity to have a proper view of both Pakistan and Indian sides, I noticed a few similarities. Hawkers, especially young men, could be seen on both sides, selling cold drinks and flags of their respective countries. The language, with Urdu and Punjabi on the Pakistani side and Hindi and Punjabi on the Indian side, also sounded so similar. Wagah is a Pakistan village and Attari is an Indian village. The historic Lahore city is just 24 kms from the Attari-Wagah border and is the largest city in Pakistani Punjab. Even though there is so much animosity between the two nations, the lowering of flags ceremony is a beautiful occasion to celebrate the friendship between the two nations.
Also, through this border people from both sides occasionally visit each other’s places. Attending the lowering of the flag ceremony, I went through so many emotions. There is so much similarity between India and Pakistan, yet there is so much animosity. The politicians on both sides have played their part in making sure that the animosity continues to grow as it benefits them. I was expecting all burkha-clad women and bearded skull cap-wearing crowds on the Pakistan side as usually portrayed by Indian media. But to my surprise, I saw many young kids in jeans and very few burkha-clad women and skull caps-wearing bearded men. I left the Attari-Wagah border with a wish that someday I would like to visit the Pakistani city Lahore, which has massive significance in Indian history prior to the partition. The visit also made me wonder why we can’t have such kind of a border meeting point along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, where people can meet and also border trade can be done.
