Simplified Laws Guide to Taxation and Legal Concern If you happened to be at Amritsar, the holiday makers will list out three places to visit namely, Golden temple, JallianwalaBagh and Wagah Border. This article is about the VIP culture at the daily Parade at Wagah Border.
Indo-Pak Border – Attari, 32 Kms from Amritsar is the last village on the Indian side and Wagah is the first village on Pakistan side at Indo-Pak border.
At Indo-Pak border, there is a daily military practice wherein Indian security forces (Border Security Force – BSF) and Pakistan (Pakistan Rangers) conduct a Parade ceremony or lowering of flag ceremony. This ceremony takes place every evening before sunset and this tradition is jointly followed since 1959.
The ceremony starts with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both the sides, and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations’ flags.It is called the beating retreat border ceremony on the international level
In February 2015, former Union Minister Yeshwant Sinha said “We have that ugly ceremony at Wagah, almost vulgar, I don’t know why we are continuing it but we are”. However, I am not writing about the necessity or otherwise of this parade. My focus is on VIP culture at the ceremony
Thanks to Television media, there is a national momentum created against VIP culture in every sphere of life. Through this article, I am adding one more area where VIP culture is predominantly visible. It is not only visible, but also disgusting to watch as a common man of this country.
Before getting into the gallery where visitors are seated to watch the Parade, one has to undergo a series of security checks. Having undergone such an elaborate security check, I expected decent seating arrangements for all. Contrarily, once you get into the gallery, it is a mess. It is so unorganized that words are not sufficient to explain.
That apart, the most disgusting thing is VIPs! During my visit, I could see atleast 200 odd people getting special treatment to watch the Parade whereas the others who have come from all parts of the country struggle to find a place to stand. Probably, these VIPs are the ones who have got ‘an influence letter’ or ‘reference letter’ from netas’ or babus. These people get privileged treatment in terms of type and location of seating. Others, i.e., the common man of this country, like in any other place, will get second rated citizen treatment!
Let’s all pledge against VIP culture in this country. Netas and babus are there because of us and are there to do good to us. We can’t allow them to avail privileged status at the cost of common man of this country
Thought for the day
We live in a democratic society and it’s our constitutional right to have equal rights.
