The Petrapole-Benapole joint retreat ceremony was inaugurated on 6 November 2013 by the Indian Home Minister at Integrated Check Post (ICP)

Petrapole Petrapole is the Indian side of Petrapole- Benapole border checkpoint between India and Benapole of Bangladesh, on the Bangladesh-India border, near Bongaon in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Petrapole border is the only land port ...

Benapole Benapole () is a town at Sharsha Upazila in the Jessore District of Bangladesh. The Petrapole Customs station of India is situated across the border and since 1947, many people have travelled between what is now Bangladesh and India through Ben ...

in the presence of the Home Minister of Bangladesh. It is a daily military exercise, similar to the

Wagah Border ceremony Wagah (; ; ), also spelled Wagha or Wahga, 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 a ...

, and engages soldiers of

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is a central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It was formed in the wake of the Indo-Pak War of 196 ...

(India) and the

Border Guards Bangladesh Border Guard Bangladesh (abbr. BGB; ) is a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the border of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. It was formerly known as t ...

Events

The Petrapole-Benapole border ceremony takes place every evening from 16:30 to 17:00. This joint retreat ceremony of 30 minutes resulting in lowering of national flags of India and Bangladesh is jointly conducted by BSF (

) and BGB (

Border Guard Bangladesh Border Guard Bangladesh (abbr. BGB; ) is a paramilitary force responsible for the border security of Bangladesh. The BGB is entrusted with the responsibility to defend the border of Bangladesh with India and Myanmar. It was formerly known as t ...

). The "Wagah of the East" as it is known, the Petrapole-Benapole border ceremony starts off with opening of gates on India and Bangladesh side. After a quick friendly handshake between the BSF and BGB infantrymen, the soldiers march into the "no man's land" in their respective ceremonial dresses and battle dress uniform. Ceremonial theatrics by the BSF and BGB are at the heart of the ceremony and is attended by Military officials of both countries. The ceremonial parade ends before sunset and the flags of either countries are lowered. The gates on either side of the border are closed for the day. Since the border retreat ceremony was initiated in 2013, not many tourists are aware of this event. The crowd at the ceremony consists mostly of locals and very few tourists. After the retreat ceremony, the BSF jawans pose for a photo shoot with civilians or tourists in their ceremonial dress.

Location

Petrapole is on the Indian side of the border with

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The Bangladesh border point is called Benapole. Petrapole is situated 6 km from Bangaon in the North 24 Parganas district of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

. Petrapole is the largest land custom point in India and Asia.

Gallery

File:BSF and BGB.JPG File:Border Guards Bangladesh.jpg File:BSF at Petrapole.JPG File:Lowering of Flags.JPG File:Lowering of Flag.JPG File:Photoshoot with BSF.JPG File:BSF in Ceremonial Dress.JPG

References

External links

BSF–BGB Joint retreat ceremony
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benapole-Petrapole border ceremony

Ceremony A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan language, Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil ...

Benapole Bangladesh–India border crossings 2013 establishments in West Bengal 2013 establishments in Bangladesh

Events

Location

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links