Wagah

31.604815 74.573949Coordinates: 31 ° 36 ' N , 74 ° 34' E

Border crossing to India in Wagah

Flag parade at the border crossing

Wagah ( Hindi वाघा, Urdu واەگه) is a Pakistani village and a border crossing named after it on the road between Amritsar , Punjab (India) and Lahore , Punjab (Pakistan) and part of the Grand Trunk Road . On the Indian side, the border crossing after the nearest Indian village is called Attari . It is the only border crossing in the states mentioned between India and Pakistan.

Border closing ceremony

The border crossing is open daily until 4 p.m. Afterwards, a show including a military parade of the border guards is held every evening on both sides , which includes the flag parade and the sound of the Clairon (signal trumpet). The parade is characterized by a ritualization that is exaggerated and exaggerated even by military standards. The movements of soldiers from both sides regularly with the The-Ministry-of-Silly Walks - Sketch by Monty Python compared.

The border closing ceremony is attended daily by thousands of people from all parts of both countries as well as by foreign tourists. The grandstands on both sides have been expanded. On the Indian side there is a semicircular stadium for thousands of spectators. A warm-upper in uniform on both sides of the border encourages the local audience to dance and sing and, supported by oversized sound systems, incites nationalist slogans and battle chants. It serves to demonstrate military presence and readiness to fight. Political relationships between the two states are tense due to ongoing historical and current hostilities over territorial disputes .

In October 2010 it was announced that Major General Yaqub Ali Khan on the Pakistani side was in favor of normalizing the ceremony.

Suicide bombing

On November 2, 2014, 61 people were victims of a suicide bomber at a checkpoint on the Pakistani side, a few hundred meters from the border crossing. Several factions of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the attack for themselves, including the Jundollah and the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar . The attack is described as a reaction to the military offensive by the Pakistani armed forces in Waziristan .

Web links

Commons : Wagah - collection of images, videos and audio files

www.xflo.net, February 2011, Florian Wizorek: Muscle games with the neighbor (photo documentation of the border closing ceremony incl. video)

Wagah (documentary on the border closing ceremony) in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

^ Markus Ziener: Operetta with saber rattles. In the border town of Wagah, Pakistanis and Indians still keep their distance. In: Handelsblatt . July 19, 2004, accessed April 5, 2012 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c Homa Khaleeli: Goodbye to the ceremony of silly walks between India and Pakistan. In: The Guardian . November 1, 2010, accessed April 5, 2012 .
↑ Arne Perras: Pakistan's Impotence against Terror. In: Tages-Anzeiger . November 4, 2014, accessed November 5, 2014 .
^ Umar Farooq et al .: TTP splinter groups claim Wagah attack; 60 dead. In: Dawn . November 2, 2014, accessed November 5, 2014 .

[1] Markus Ziener: Operetta with saber rattles. In the border town of Wagah, Pakistanis and Indians still keep their distance. In: Handelsblatt . July 19, 2004, accessed April 5, 2012 .

[guardian-2] Homa Khaleeli: Goodbye to the ceremony of silly walks between India and Pakistan. In: The Guardian . November 1, 2010, accessed April 5, 2012 .

[3] Arne Perras: Pakistan's Impotence against Terror. In: Tages-Anzeiger . November 4, 2014, accessed November 5, 2014 .

[4] Umar Farooq et al .: TTP splinter groups claim Wagah attack; 60 dead. In: Dawn . November 2, 2014, accessed November 5, 2014 .