Joint retreat ceremony of BSF and BGB takes place at Fulbari

Siliguri: Despite the ongoing unrest and tension in neighbouring Bangladesh, the joint retreat ceremony is still continuing with the participation of the Border Security Force (BSF) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) at the Fulbari international border in Jalpaiguri district, 9 km from Siliguri. The crisp ceremony is a treat for the eyes and draws crowds from both the countries.

The ceremony is taking place on Saturdays and Tuesdays of the week. But this week the ceremony took place on Wednesday on the occasion of Christmas. “Retreat” signifies the end of the working day.

Large crowds gathered on both sides of the border as Fulbari on the Indian side and Banglabandha on the Bangladesh side, geared up to witness the event.

Daljit Singh Chaudhury, the Director General of BSF, Tahidul Rahman, Sector Commander of BGB Panchgarh, flagged off the ceremony.

“I have visited the borders of the North Bengal Frontier area. Tight security has been imposed at the borders. We have very good cooperation with the BGB,” said the DG.

Ceremonies around “retreat” date back to crusades and were initially introduced by the French Army. The ceremonies include parade and lowering of the flags jointly. The Joint Retreat Ceremony at Fulbari was flagged off on April 27, 2018. The Joint Retreat Ceremony between India and Bangladesh was envisaged during DG-level talks in 2013, wherein a proposal was floated as part of confidence-building measure between the two forces and cordial relations between the two countries. A similar DG-level coordination meeting between the two forces was held on April 23, 2018 in Dhaka. On the last day of the meet, the two DGs flagged off the ceremony at Fulbari and has been continuing since.

This day’s ceremony commenced with an eye-catching drill. The drill came to an end at around 4:30pm with the lowering of the flags of both the countries.