The joy was palpable in air on the Indian side of border but it was gloomy on the Pakistan side of border.

ATTARI: There could have not been a more joyous time for the visitors to witness beating the retreat ceremony at Attari international border than Tuesday when Indian Air Force (IAF) eliminated Pakistan based terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammad 's (JeM) terror camps situated deep inside Pakistan to avenge the February 14 Pulwama suicide attack .

The joy was palpable in air on the Indian side of border but it was gloomy on the Pakistan side of border. Not only the enthusiasm among Pakistani visitors was elusive but the shrill in the Pakistani Rangers doing the synchronized drill was absent.

Undeterred of any retaliatory action by Pakistan post IAF strike, majority of visitors at Attari were appreciative of the Indian soldiers who had carried out early morning strike that took Pakistan forces by surprise.

While talking to TOI, a visitor Gursharan Singh from Delhi said, "It’s day to celebrate the victory and valour of our soldiers who went deep inside Pakistan and eliminated terror camps". Gursharan who was accompanied by his newly wed wife Sonia Kaur said that she had earlier visited Attari along with her parents to see the flag lowering ceremony but there had never been so much enthusiasm which she had seen today.

As compared to other days, a large number of men, women and children were seen dancing on the tunes of patriotic songs .

"We need good neighbor but when they turn hostile we need to teach them a lesson", said Meenakshi Verma, a visitor from Rajkot. She said she was lucky to have visited the Attari border to see the daily ceremony on Tuesday since she had no programme. "Our hotel booking in Dalhousie was cancelled so we decided to visit Attari border today, but it was my luckiest day to see my countrymen rejoicing victory over evil", she said.

Not only the tourists from other places but a large number of local residents of Attari and nearby villages had gathered outside the beating the retreat ceremony venue to welcome the tourists with ‘Jai Hind’.

Vikas Soni, a local hotelier said, "These are the rare moments, we are all happy that our government gave a befitting reply to Pakistan for harbouring and sheltering the terrorist groups", he said. A few shopkeepers were also seen distributing free sweets to the visiting tourists . eom

