LAHORE – India’s Border Security Force (BSF) has decided to lodge a protest with Pakistan Rangers over what they call the ‘breach of a protocol’ constituted by cricketer Hasan Ali.
The Pakistani pacer was part of national cricket team, who attended the flag-lowering ceremony at the Wagah Border Saturday evening after their training camp for the England tour ended at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
The landmark parade, which is attended by hundreds of visitors from both sides of the border, was turned even more captivating after, the 24-year-old joined in and thrilled the crowd as well as the guards with his signature style moves that are normally seen on the cricket grounds. He was later escorted back by a man in civilian clothes amid thunderous applause from the audience.
Since then, a video of Ali taking part in the beating retreat ceremony, which is performed by soldiers from two nuclear-armed neighbours every evening, has been making rounds on social media.
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However, the celebration of the Champions Trophy star did not go down well with the Indian side.
The Indian side says according to ceremony protocol, only the BSF on the Indian side and Rangers on the Pakistan side can take part in the flag-lowering ceremony.
“The act has hit the sanctity of the parade. We will lodge a protest with Pakistan Rangers,” BSF Inspector General (Punjab Frontier) Mukul Goel was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.
“Anyone can make any aggressive gesture in the viewers’ gallery on both sides but no public person can interfere in the parade. Before or after the parade, the people are free to do such things, but not in the middle of the parade,” Goel added.
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DIG R S Kataria says “since it is a drill of forces of two countries, BSF is lodging protest with Pakistan Rangers.”
The Saturday’s episode follows a social media tiff between Indo-Pak cricketers over Kashmir conflict.
Earlier this month, several players including former captain Shahid Afridi, ex-India opener Gautam Gambhir, Indian skipper Virat Kohli and others sparred on Twitter over the restive region that is claimed by both nations in its entirety.
Afridi tweeted on Tuesday that the situation was “appalling and worrisome in Indian-occupied Kashmir”. This prompted Gambhir to retort that Afridi had a “retarded dictionary”.
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Kashmir has been a flashpoint for more than 60 years and the two nations have fought two wars over it.
The goose-stepping ritual that marks the daily closure of the Wagah-Attari border at represents the hostilities between the two countries over the past many decades.
Both the countries have, many a times in the past, decided to ‘tone down’ the border ceremony’s aggressive moves, which feature heavily mustachioed troops from both sides high-kicking to the sounds of trumpets.
