Beating Retreat Ceremony to Resume at India-Pakistan Border Points in Punjab

After a 10-day ceasefire between India and Pakistan, the Border Security Force (BSF) is set to resume the iconic Beating Retreat ceremony in a scaled-down format on Tuesday evening at three key Punjab border points: Attari-Wagah, Hussainiwala, and Fazilka. This marks the end of a 12-day pause in the ceremonial event due to heightened military tensions between the two countries.

BSF officials confirmed that although the ceremony will resume, it will do so without the usual handshakes between the armed personnel of the two nations or the symbolic opening of the border gates. However, audiences will still be allowed to witness the patriotic spectacle. The ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Attari border near Amritsar, Hussainiwala in Ferozepur, and the Sadqi border in Fazilka.

The Border Area Development Front has encouraged local residents to attend the ceremony at Sadqi, requesting them to arrive by 5:30 p.m. to participate in large numbers. Normally, the ceremony attracts hundreds of visitors daily, including foreign tourists who gather to witness the grand event.

Since its inception in 1959, the Beating Retreat ceremony has been a powerful display of military discipline and patriotic fervor, marked by synchronized drills, loud marching, and the ceremonial lowering of the national flags of both India and Pakistan just before dusk. Held daily at sunset, this tradition has served as a symbol of peace and discipline at a historically tense border.

Typically, the ceremony also features symbolic gestures of goodwill, such as the exchange of sweets between border guards during major festivals and national celebrations like Diwali, Eid, Independence Day, and Republic Day. However, this practice has been interrupted in recent years due to escalating border tensions and specific geopolitical events.

For instance, in the aftermath of India’s 2016 surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), BSF officials refrained from offering sweets to the Pakistan Rangers. The tradition was also skipped in 2019 amid an increase in ceasefire violations in Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, the ceremony was completely closed to spectators starting from March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting a long-standing tradition that draws thousands to the border each day.

The Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post, located approximately 30 kilometers from Amritsar and about 22 kilometers from Lahore, features a spectator gallery with a capacity to accommodate nearly 25,000 people. It remains one of the most prominent sites for the flag-lowering ceremony, often covered widely by media and visited by dignitaries and civilians alike.

The decision to resume the ceremony—albeit in a limited format—signals an effort to restore normalcy and uphold tradition while maintaining caution amid the sensitive diplomatic climate. The scaled-down version serves as a gesture of continuity and resilience in the face of ongoing military and political tensions, while still allowing civilians to take part in a deeply symbolic ritual of national pride.