Rajnath Singh plans to hold ‘shastra puja’ along Pak border

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh will celebrate Dussehra and perform “shastra puja” or worship of weapons along the sensitive Indo-Pak border in Rajasthan’s Bikaner on October 19. He will also review the progress in various infrastructure projects in the border area.

According to sources, the home minister will celebrate the Dussehra festival with jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF).

The “shastra puja”, that is a part of the Dussehra festival which is celebrated to mark the victory of Lord Ram over Ravana, will be performed at a border post, they added.

“This is for the first time that a senior minister of the Central government will conduct ‘shastra puja’ along India’s border with Pakistan, with whom India fought full scale wars,” sources said.

Last year, the home minister had celebrated Dussehra at Joshimath in Uttarakhand along the Sino-Indian border During the two-day visit to Rajasthan, the home minister will arrive in Bikaner on October 18 and spend the night at the border outpost, before celebrating the festival with jawans on October 19, sources said.

Mr Singh is expected to review the situation on the border and assess the progress in various infrastructure projects. He will attend a ‘Bada Khana’ (feast with the jawans) and address the security personnel, sources said.

The 3,323-km-long Indo-Pak border is considered to be highly sensitive. Even though the border in Rajasthan is peaceful, the border guarding forces of the two countries often engage in massive firing in Jammu and Kashmir, leading to loss of human lives and properties.