No sweets for Pak Rangers on Diwali at Attari - Hindustan Times

The acrimony between India and Pakistan due to repeated ceasefire violations had its impact on the Attari border with the Border Security Force (BSF) refused to offer sweets to the Pakistani Rangers on Diwali on Thursday.

As per tradition, the BSF troops offer sweets to the Rangers on Diwali every year at the Attari border. But a few days before the festival, the BSF decided not to offer sweets to their Pakistani counterpart and they informed the Rangers about their decision a day before Diwali.

It was the consecutive second time when this age-old tradition of exchanging pleasantries between the two forces received a setback. Earlier on Eid this year, the Pakistani Rangers did not offer or accept sweets from the BSF.

BSF deputy inspector general (DIG) MF Farooqui told Hindustant Times: “In the face of prevailing tension on the Indo-Pak border, exchanging pleasantries doesn’t make any sense. Therefore, we decided not to offer sweets to the Rangers.”

He alleged that in fact, the Pakistani Rangers gave a blow to this long-standing tradition on Eid by not reciprocating to our goodwill gesture.

Notably, the Attari has been a peaceful border over the years and both BSF and the Rangers used to exchange pleasantries despite tension in Jammu and Kashmir; but this year, the Attari border has also seen cold vibes between the two forces.