#wagah #wagah_border_parade #flag_ceremony
Wagah Border Parade I Wagah-Attari Flag Ceremony I Where GT Road Enters India I Gilani Logs
Wagah, Wahga or Wagha is a village located in the Wahga Zone of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal and a railway station between Pakistan and India. Wahga is situated 600 meters (2,000 ft) west of the border and lies on the historic Grand Trunk Road between Lahore and Amritsar in India. The border is located 24 kilometers (15 mi) from Lahore and 32 kilometers (20 mi) from Amritsar. It is also 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) from the bordering village of Attari.
The lowering of the flags ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border is a daily military practice that the security forces of India (Border Security Force, BSF) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) have jointly followed since 1959. The drill is characterized by elaborate and rapid dance-like man oeuvres and raising legs as high as possible, which have been described as "colorful". It is both a symbol of the two countries’ rivalry, and a display of brotherhood and cooperation between the two nations.
Similar parades are organized at Mahavir/Sadqi border near Fazilka and Hussainiwala/Ganda Singh Wala border near Firozpur.
This ceremony takes place every evening immediately before sunset at the Wagah-Attari border, which as part of the Grand Trunk Road was the only road link between these two countries before the opening of the Aman Setu in Kashmir in 1999. The ceremony starts with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both sides and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags. It is called the Beating Retreat border ceremony on the international level. One infantryman stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates again.
The spectacle of the ceremony attracts many visitors from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists. In October 2010, Major General Yaqub Ali Khan of the Pakistan Rangers decided that the aggressive aspect of the ceremonial theatrics should be toned down. The soldiers of this ceremony are specially appointed and trained for this auspicious ceremony. They also have a beard and moustache policy for which they are paid additionally.
After the India-Pakistan military confrontation on 29 September 2016 the border closing ceremony continued, but on the Indian side public attendance was denied on the evenings between 29 September and 8 October 2016. As a sign of the increased tensions, the BSF did not exchange sweets and greetings with Pakistani Rangers on Diwali 2016, despite a long tradition of doing so on major religious festivals like Bakr-Eid and Diwali, and also during Independence Days of both countries.
Following India's erection of a 360 ft (110m) flagpole on their side of the border in Attari, in August 2017, a 400 ft (122m) flag was installed on the Wagah side. The pole in Attari is the largest in India
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