BSF personnel celebrate Diwali with locals at the international border along J-K
Nov 03, 2021
Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 3 : Border Security Force (BSF) personnel celebrated Diwali at the international border in RS Pura area of Jammu on Tuesday.
These BSF jawans are away from their families and have committed themselves to the task of protecting the nation's borders. Still, it does not stop them from celebrating their festivals at the border, which they call their 'home'.
Constable Randeep Singh said to ANI, "It is the love of this nation due to which we are able to celebrate Diwali here. We hope that a great atmosphere prevails in a country. It will lead to progress. People here are my family."
"Diwali is a festival of happiness. BSF is celebrating Diwali with school children, people from civil administration, public representatives like a family. It feels really good. We are away from our actual homes, but this place is also our home. We do our duty here 24 hours, seven days a week, 365 days a year and we celebrate our festivals here. We are committed to protecting our borders, our jawans are doing our duty well so that our countrymen can celebrate their festivals. Happy Diwali to everyone," said Surjeet Singh, DIG, BSF.
As a part of celebrations, the jawans danced with the locals, lit candles and burst some firecrackers. A cultural event was also held as a part of celebrations. 
The local residents also participated in the celebrations with full vigour which did not make the jawans feel away from their homes. They saluted the BSF for keeping the borders safe no matter what.
"It felt really good celebrating our Diwali with BSF. We have also brought children here so that they see how these jawans celebrate their Diwali away from their families while being deployed at the borders. I salute BSF, they cannot go back to their homes during festivals because if they do, who will guard the people? Everyone wants to go back to their homes during the festivals. But it is appreciable that our jawans are always standing like a wall at the borders," said a local resident named Gurvind. 
It feels really good to celebrate Diwali with the BSF jawans. They do a lot for us, they are always guarding our borders. It is because of them that we are able to live peacefully and have a good night's sleep. Salute to BSF!," added another local resident.
