BSF, Rangers bonhomie at display at Baba Chamliyal fair

Against the backdrop of exchange of heavy firing by Indian and Pakistan armies on the Line of Control on Thursday, bonhomie between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers was on display at the shrine of Baba Chamliyal on the international border.

The annual mela was held on Thursday at the shrine in Ramgarh sector of Samba district, close to the Zero Line on the India-Pakistan International Border.

A Pakistan Rangers team visited the shrine and offered a traditional 'chaddar' (ceremonial cloth) to the revered saint.

During the nearly two-hour visit by the Rangers, Border Security Force men served them tea and snacks, besides handing them packets of sweets for their families.

Devotees from both sides throng the nearly 180 years old shrine to pay obeisance to Baba Dileep Singh Manhas aka Baba Chamliyal.

A small bowser filled with sweetened water and 'shakkar' (sugar) was handed over to the Rangers for distribution across the border among the Pakistani devotees waiting to get a glimpse of the saint's shrine on the auspicious day.

Earlier in the day, Indian and Pakistan armies traded heavy fire on the Line of Control in Chakan da Bagh sector in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

--IANS

sq/tsb/vt