The crowd, the media, the officers and men from different forces had dug in their heels for one common cause, to welcome Abhinandan.
People in large numbers arrived at the Attari Joint Check Post (JCP) in Punjab to receive Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman (L) who was released by Pakistan on 1 March 2019. (Photos: @OfficialDGISPR/Twitter/IANS)
Even as India has been waiting anxiously for the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, the IAF pilot captured by Pakistan on Wednesday, his official handover remains mired in “procedural delays”. Pakistan authorities were to hand over the Indian Air Force pilot to India at the Attari-Wagah Border after 6 pm.
Officials, however, cited “procedural delays” as the handover remained held up at the time of writing this report.
Earlier in the day, large crowds had gathered at the Wagah border as Pakistan brought Abhinandan Varthaman to the joint check post in a military vehicle.
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To restrict the crowds, the regular retreat ceremony at the Wagah border was cancelled as the government wanted to avoid any media frenzy around the pilot’s return.
The crowd, the media, the officers and men from different forces had dug in their heels for one common cause, to welcome Abhinandan. The notifications kept coming in intermittently and along with it the delay even as the whole of India was waiting with a bated breath for that “magical” moment when the air warrior would appear on the scene.
Moments gave way to minutes, hours, and the bright afternoon replaced by dusk, accompanied by chilly winds and light rainfall. Still, they persisted, as said, dug in their heels.
The daily retreat ceremony at the border front was cancelled for the day by authorities, worried that it could become a security nightmare with an estimated 20,000 people gathering at the spot.
The sight of a convoy of cars driving out of Attari, about 30 km from Amritsar, sent viewers into a frenzy — was Abhinandan inside one of them, was he being taken straight to Delhi on a special flight, would he address the media?
(With agency inputs)
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