Ganda Singh Wala ( Punjabi/ ur, ) is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

, just 58 km from Lahore City in

Kasur District Kasur District ( Punjabi and ur, , translit=Zilā Qasūr), is a district located in Lahore Division of Punjab, Pakistan. It came into existence on 1 July 1976. Prior to its creation, it was a tehsil of the Lahore District. The district capit ...

in the

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Until 1986, it served as the main border crossing between

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The

Sutlej River The Sutlej or Satluj River () is the longest of the five rivers that flow through the historic crossroads region of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan. The Sutlej River is also known as ''Satadru''. It is the easternmost tributary of the Ind ...

flows by Ganda Singh Wala, and the area is prone to flooding. The village is now 45 minutes drive from Lahore after the construction of new

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

Firozpur Firozpur, also known as Ferozepur, is a city on the banks of the Sutlej River in Firozpur District, Punjab, India. After the partition of India in 1947, it became a border town on the India–Pakistan border with memorials to soldiers who di ...

road. Nearby Burj Naamdaar village is noted for the cultivation of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

Etymology

The village was named after

Ganda Singh Datt Sardar Bahadur Risaldar Major Ganda Singh Datt, (1830 – July 1903) was a decorated soldier in the British Indian Army, who served in the 19th Regiment of Bengal Lancers (also known as Fane's Horse). Ganda Singh was a Mohyal Brahmin of ...

. It lies on the border with Eastern Punjab,

. The Pakistani village, which was named after a Sikh man, lies opposite the Indian village of

Hussainiwala Hussainiwala is a village near Firozpur city in Firozpur district in Punjab state, India. It lies near the bank of the Sutlej river. The village is on the border with Pakistan, opposite the Pakistani village of Ganda Singh Wala. It is a border ...

, which in turn was named after a Muslim man.

India Pakistan Border

Border crossing

The border crossing is now closed. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the principal road crossing between India and Pakistan, but was replaced by the border crossing at

Wagah Wagah ( ur, ) or Wagha (Shahmukhi pnb, ) is a village and union council (UC 181) located in the Wahga Zone near Lahore City District, Pakistan. The town is famous for the Wagah border ceremony and also serves as a goods transit terminal and ...

, a little further north. In 2005 there were proposals to reopen the border, but it remained closed. More recently the Chief Minister of Punjab

Shahbaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: , ; born 23 September 1951) is a Pakistani politician and businessman who is currently serving as the 23rd Prime Minister of Pakistan, in office since 11 April 2022. He is the current president o ...

proposed the reopening of the border when he visited

Attari Attari, also spelled Atari, is a village of Amritsar district in the Punjab state of India, 3 km from the Indo-Pakistani border at Wagah. It is situated 25 km west of the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, and is the last Indian station on ...

in India.

Border ceremony

Since 1970 a daily 6 pm Beating Retreat Border Ceremony is jointly held at the border crossing by military of both nations. It similar to the Attari-Wagah border ceremony.District Ferozepur website: Retreat Ceremony at Husainiwala
/ref> Attendees are seated close by, as compared to Wagah where crowds are kept far apart. Unlike the

jingoistic Jingoism is nationalism in the form of aggressive and proactive foreign policy, such as a country's advocacy for the use of threats or actual force, as opposed to peaceful relations, in efforts to safeguard what it perceives as its national inter ...

display at Wagah which draws nationalistic tourists from all over India and Pakistan, the Hussainiwala ceremony is more intimate and attended mostly by local Punjabis on either side of the border. As a result, the atmosphere is not as tense, and Indian and Pakistani attendees often smile and wave to one another.

References

External links