JOIN USCushion effect for the grand show
BSF personnel are suffering from knee pain, bad back and throbbing sore feet due to the heavy stomping jerks at the Retreat ceremony
If it's not a robust physique, a built-in aggression and at least six feet from head to toe, chances are that even the best of the Border Security Force (BSF) men may not qualify. That’s perhaps the quintessential criteria when it comes to the everyday evening Retreat ceremony at the international Attari-Wagha Punjab border with Pakistan.
On the other side of the iron gates just a few feet away, the Pakistani Rangers have no reason to discount this benchmark. In fact, other than the nationality and the black uniforms they don, much of the posturing looks like a photo copy. It's hard to insulate yourself from the abrupt spurt of patriotism that almost all visitors experience rushing through their capillaries as stout BSF men launch themselves into the ceremony stomping their feet hard on the metalled road for minutes at a stretch.
Now it is beginning to have its effect. The heavy stomps are leading to jerks in the joints, leaving BSF soldiers with knee pain, bad back and throbbing sore feet. So, the BSF has now decided to lay wooden flooring all over the stretch that would cushion the impact. Of course, the stomping sound on a wooden floor will give the Indian side some solace scoring more decibel points over the Pakistani Rangers.
BSF top officials said a proposal is underway for laying wooden flooring that would be covered with black rubber to give it a road-like look. Concrete floor at Hussainiwala in Punjab's Ferozepur district, which too hosts a similar ceremony, will also be replaced as a part of the plan.
For those who have seen the ceremony live at the Attari-Wagha border, or even watched the Retreat ceremony sitting cosy in their living rooms over popcorn, know well that the everyday evening event is anything but a retreat, at least going by the posturing. But the least you can expect from the ceremonial head-high kicks, popped out eyes and robotic manoeuvrings of Indian soldiers is a full-on tourist charm.
And the BSF perhaps wants every popped-out gazing eye to meet your eye. That’s why giant LCD screens are being installed at the border to attract visitors. The everyday heavy rush is something that one need not bother anymore. The giant TV screens will not let you miss one bit of stomping that often gets lost somewhere in the rant of heavy sloganeering on both sides of the border.
On an average, about 12,000 visitors descend at the venue every day to watch the impeccable ceremony. But the venue has just a seating capacity of about 5,000 people. Officials said in the next two months, work is likely to begin on building multiple stands that will eventually be able to accommodate at least twice the number of visitors from its present day capacity. The plan will also remove bottlenecks and delays in visitor intake at the time of the ceremony. Often visitors have to rub shoulders in a packed house leaving a bitter taste to an impressive ceremony.
The BSF has also permitted the participation of women BSF personnel in the ceremony. Two women personnel start the ceremony in a similar fashion before handing the charge to their taller colleagues. The BSF says the participation of women in various tasks reflects upon the resolve of the force towards promoting an even better and effective culture of deliverance. Women BSF personnel have already been patrolling vast stretches of the crucial Indo-Pak border.
A Friendship Park on both sides of the Attari-Wagah border to facilitate bilateral trade and commerce between the two nations too is being thought of. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry Punjab Committee chairman Rajiv Bali, who returned from Pakistan recently, said that the proposed park would help in conducting meetings among the businessmen of the two countries at the border.
A special one-day permit could be issued to interested businessmen by the government authorities on the two sides to address essential concern and take the business forward.
Meeting rooms for traders and industrialists of both nations, auditoriums for conferences and seminars, a stadium and shopping malls in near-vicinity too are planned.
Bilateral trade
Even as Pakistan is yet to accord the Most Favoured Nation (MNF) status to India for boosting trade ties between the two countries, trade between India and Pakistan through the land route via the Attari-Wagha border has been witnessing a steady increase after the setting up of the integrated checkpost (ICP) on the border early this year. Export and import of certain new items, including newsprint and yarn, have already started. After the recent visit of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal to Pakistan, there are indications that suggest a consensus to dismantle the “negative list” by December, 2012. This will further boost trade. At present, India and Pakistan allow trade of only 137 items through the land route, including the Attari border in Amritsar. India has set up a Rs 150-crore state-of-the-art ICP at the border to handle greater passenger and cargo traffic on its side at Attari.
Sukhbir Badal has also demanded a full port status for the Attari border and sought approval from the External Affairs Ministry for allowing import of 6,000 items. These items are currently being traded between the sea ports at Mumbai and Karachi.