Special Correspondent

JAIPUR (TIP): On the lines of Wagah-Attari border’s Beating Retreat, Border Security Force (BSF) will soon open a border tourism spot in Rajasthan’s International Indo-Pak border in Jaisalmer district at Babliyan post to woo tourists, both domestic and international, by March this year. Besides the stadium for retreat, a museum and cafeteria would also be functional there for tourists’ who travel a long way from other parts of India and the world throughout the year specially from September to March. “A stadium with a capacity of over 2000 tourist visitors is being built at Babliyan post by the Jaisalmer district administration and will be readied by February end, and BSF would then start Beating Retreat event like the one at Attari border”,  Pankaj Goomar, IG, BSF (Rajasthan Frontier) told TIP when contacted. Domestic and international tourists used to throng Jaisalmer to visit forts, sand dunes in Sam, and Tanot Mata Mandir, and many of them seek permission to view the international border guarded by the BSF but did get easily, Goomar said, adding the Beating Retreat kind of event would give access to them with a new idea and view along the border which would be 2 to 3 kms from the actual fenced border line.

“Its tourist fee and other modalities would be decided later on by the BSF authorities which will monitor everything once it is built by the Jaisalmer administration”, he said, adding a museum would also be readied at Babliyan post, which is about 145 kms.Once Babliy an post gets ready, BSF had a plan to start similar event at Bikaner’s Khajuwala and Sanchu border posts. The border tourism is chosen due to the importance of Tanot Mata temple where thousands of pilgrims and tourists visit every year.  It is an incarnation of divine goddess Hingla Mata and it  was attacked by the Pakistan Army during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965 during which 3,000 bombs were fired towards the temple. However, as per local lore, the bombs either missed their target or did not explode.  After the 1965 war, India’s BSF took charge of the temple and the responsibility of managing and maintenance. Tanot was attacked again during the Indo-Pak war of 1971,  but this time the attacking tanks got bogged down in the sand, allowing the Indian Air Force to destroy them.  After the 1971 war, the Indian Army built a Vijay Stambha (Victory tower) inside the temple compound to commemorate the victory in the battle of Longewala.