The ripples of hostility between India and Pakistan have attracted attention on the international border Attari-Wagah between the two countries following the recent Pahalgam terrorist attacks in Jamu and Kashmir. In Amritsar and its border villages in Punjab, even tensions between nuclear-armed countries and hot summers continue to soar, pain, depression, uncertainty and resilience are obvious.
On Baisaran Meadow near Pahalgam, near Pahalgam, 26 people, except for one of them being tourists, were killed by terrorists on April 22. It requires almost all Pakistani nationals to leave India. In response, Pakistan suspended trade with India and issued visas to Indian nationals. This forced several nationals from both countries to shorten their trips and return to their homeland.
The deadline for Pakistani citizens on visas (excluding medical, diplomatic and long-term visas) was departed from India on April 27. Several people, including women and children, lined up in Attari to cross Pakistan. The mood was high, and many people grabbed the surprises and tears of relatives and friends. From the Pakistani side, several Indians traveled to India. Many families of mixed nationality stare at separation, without an end date.
“My wife Savita has a Pakistani passport, but my two children are from India. They went to Pakistan a few days ago to meet her family. We have been married for 13 years and she visited Pakistan on different occasions. This time she was sent back. She was driven back. He arrived in Attari on April 24 and stood outside the Comprehensive Check Post Office (ICP).
“Why should we be separated? I don’t know what to do now. What happened in Pahargam is condemnable, but I hope and pray that the situation between the two countries will not worsen. Peace should prevail.” Kumar said he spent three days trying to find a way to reunite with his family. After five days of turmoil, he breathed a sigh of relief when Pakistani authorities allowed his wife and children to cross India on April 29.
Family worries
Between April 24 and 27, when the first deadline ended, as many as 537 Pakistani citizens left India while 850 Indians arrived from Pakistan. From April 28 to 29, as many as 249 Pakistanis left India through ICP, while 527 Indians returned to the country
For years, families and communities who were divided during partitioning have tried to stay connected through cross-border connections. But whenever bilateral relations are tense, people suffer. Despite the use of India and Pakistan as independent states in 1947 (a period of destruction due to violence and bloodshed), the shared cultural identity across the border has remained the same for many years.
Attari-Wagah represents a turbulent era and kinship. This is the only land route for trade and travel between India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and its economic significance has been crucial for years, especially for locals. It is located on the oldest historic Big Trunk Road in South Asia, and its history dates back to the Mauryan era, although it was remade by Sher Shah Suri, one of the Delhi rulers.
Since 1959, the beating retreat ceremony held at the ICP every night has been a key attraction for tourists from all over India. The two countries lowered their flags with key roles in Border Security Forces (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers. The tone of the ceremony, whether it is amplification or adjustment, indicates the depth of the tense connection and the level of hostility. Now it is low-key, with half of the turnout for 25,000 people compared to weekends and 25,000 on weekdays, BSF officials said.
Vehicles of Pakistani nationals crossing the border. |Photo source: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
With a brief window, even as India exits India, people linger on the ICP, crossing Pakistan, even as they wear vehicles and automatic city vehicles, and carry luggage, to the passenger terminal guarded by the BSF. When the person holding a Pakistani passport was allowed to leave, others, even their families, were stopped.
Wajeeda Khan, a 24-year-old Indian national, was frustrated, married to a Pakistani and came to meet with her parents in February, unsure of reunion with her husband, who was waiting on the other end of the border. “I am an Indian and married in Karachi ten years ago. My two children were born in Pakistan and they are Pakistani nationals. How can I stay here and send my children across the border?” she said in tears.
Iranian national and solo traveler Elham Destani is worried about reaching her country. “I traveled the world in camper vans and spread the message of peace. Attari-Wagah is the only road route I got to my home in Iran. I have a ‘tourist visa on the road’ and I’ve been in India for the last 75 days. I just want to go home,” she said, as she approached the ICP in frustration as she parked her car in frustration on the roadside van.
The Attari-Wagah border is both a physical and symbolic portal. In 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee started the Delhi-Lahore bus service through the border and met with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the inaugural bus.
Blood and the country
Many Indian nationals arriving from Pakistan expressed pain in the Pahargan terrorist attacks, which justified India’s firm stance.
“I’m the first among Indians. We’re blood-related on the border, but that’s secondary to us. What’s going on in Pahalgam is inhumane, and I stand with my country.”
His uncle’s family went to Pakistan while in partition and chose to settle in Lahore, about 50 kilometers from Amritsar, once a Twin Cities. “My cousin was uncomfortable, so my wife and I went to see him on April 8 with a month’s visa,” said Hasan, a farm worker in Sonipat, Haryana.
Travelers produce passports at integrated inspection posts. |Photo source: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
After the terrorist attack, the BSF shortened the retreat of the beating at three locations along the Pakistani border in Punjab (Attari, Hussainiwala and Sadki). Of these three positions, Atari witnessed the largest crowd.
On April 26, the border gates remained closed at a ceremony in Attari, with the symbolic handshake between the Indian defender commander and the Pakistani opponent not taking place. According to the BSF, these steps reflect “the serious concern of India for cross-border hostilities and reaffirm the inability to coexist with peace and provocation”.
Usually, patriotic songs are played during exercises where soldiers are perfectly rehearsed. The people in the audience gallery joined the choir with nationalism enthusiasm, waving the flags and painting three colors on their faces. The festival, including tourists dancing, is boring.
“We are direct patients whenever tensions escalate between India and Pakistan. Now, hardly any customers in Dabas are hit. Once the inspection positions are completely closed, our future will become bleak. Our future will stand immediately. We support our survival steps at the same time as the government.”
In Attari, although locals firmly support the government’s decision, they are worried about making a living without cross-border trade. Local businesses have been hit since bilateral trade ceased after the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack. Since then, Afghanistan has moved only sparsely in the land port of Attari in ICP. However, this has also been stopped at present, affecting traders, customs agents, truckers and porters, etc.
“Once the ICP is completely shut down, it will be difficult for me and many others like me,” said Porter Tarsem Singh, 38. He said, putting his head down in despair.
Far from Attari, located in Dera Baba Nanak Town in the Gurdaspur district, the Kartarpur corridor connects Pakistan’s Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara with India’s Dera Baba Nanak Shrine, and is still open, while Pilgrims continues to visit Pakistan’s historic Gurdwara without using visas. It is worth noting that in the ongoing tensions, Pakistan suspended visas for all Indians except Sikh pilgrims. Pilgrims from India continued to worship in Gurdwara in Kartarpur and returned the same night.
Security Question
The Punjab villages adjacent to the international borders are often at the end of receiving diplomatic consequences and economic destruction. aboutAttari is 80 km away from Attari in the Rose Village of Gurdaspur District, on the international border, and the mood is different.
“There is no fear among the villagers. This is not the first time we are nervous with Pakistan; we are used to it, not fear. In 2016, when India underwent a surgical strike, villagers were asked to move to a safer place and hardly anyone left the village. In fact, we would escape. In fact, we would say, if anything, we would say, we would say, we would say, we could say, we would say, we could say, once said, it was a fact that once said, once said, wheat farms covering 100 acres, close to the fences built by India near the “zero line”, which is the actual boundary line between the two countries.
He said that due to limited time in the agricultural business, it is difficult to cultivate here. “Every time I go to the farm, I have to allow and finish the paperwork. It’s time consuming. On the Pakistan side, there are no fences, so stray cattle can damage the crops.
Even as tensions between the two neighbors continue to escalate, the scars of the violent past and the pain of the family are torn apart. “I hope this will come together soon.
vikas.vasudeva@thehindu.co.in
Edited by Sunalini Mathew
publishing – May 1, 2025 11:58 pm isst
