Ganda Singh Wala

Village in Punjab, Pakistan

Ganda Singh Wala گنڈا سِنگھ والا
village
Flag lowering ceremony in Ganda Singh Wala near, Lahore City
31°2′16.71″N 74°31′6.47″E / 31.0379750°N 74.5184639°E / 31.0379750; 74.5184639
Country	Pakistan
Province	Punjab
District	Kasur
Languages
• Official	Urdu, Shahmukhi
Time zone	UTC+5:00 (PST)
Nearest village	Hussainiwala

Ganda Singh Wala (Punjabi/Urdu: گنڈا سنگھ والا) is a village, just 58 km from Lahore City in Kasur District in the Punjab, Pakistan. Until 1986, it served as the main border crossing between Pakistan and India.^[1] The Sutlej River flows by Ganda Singh Wala, and the area is prone to flooding.^[2]

The village is now a 45-minute drive from Lahore after the construction of the new Lahore-Firozpur road. Nearby Burj Naamdaar village is noted for the cultivation of bamboo.^{[citation needed]}

Etymology

The village was named after Ganda Singh Datt. It lies on the border with Eastern Punjab, India. The Pakistani village, which was named after a Sikh man, lies opposite the Indian village of Hussainiwala, which in turn was named after a Muslim man.

India Pakistan Border

Border crossing

The border crossing is now closed. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was the principal road crossing between India and Pakistan,^[3] but was replaced by the border crossing at Wagah, a little further north. In 2005 there were proposals to reopen the border,^[4] but it remained closed. More recently the Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif proposed the reopening of the border when he visited Attari in India.^{[citation needed]}

Border ceremony

Since 1970, a daily 6 pm Beating Retreat Border Ceremony is jointly held at the border crossing by the military of both nations. It is similar to the Attari-Wagah border ceremony.^[5] Attendees are seated close by, as compared to Wagah where crowds are kept far apart. The Indian village across the border is Hussainiwala. "Ganda Singh Wala-Hussainiwala border ceremony" is attended mostly by local Punjabis on either side of the border.

References

^ Important Places Kasur District, Official District website. Retrieved 24 October 2019
^ Shaukati Ali Awan Flood forecasting and management in Pakistan
^ Paul Mason (2006) Via Rishikesh: an account of hitchhiking to India in 1970
^ Daily Times, 8 September 2005 Archived 20 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ District Ferozepur website: Retreat Ceremony at Husainiwala