Farooq Abdullah slams BJP plan to hoist national flag in Srinagar

NEW DELHI - Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Friday slammed the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for insisting on hoisting the national flag on Republic Day (January 26) in the state.

“The flag that we will hoist is not the Indian flag? Is only their flag Indian? Are the BJP people the only Indians? Do they think that they are the only ones working for the upliftment of India? I believe this party only wants to ruin India. They do not want to unite India. They want the circumstances of tensions. Why should we fight? We are trying to manage a situation. Do they want to create tensions? I regret this,” said Abdullah, at the sidelines of an event in New Delhi.

Responding to BJP’s plans for its members to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar city on Republic Day, incumbent Chief Minister Omar Abdullah asked if the BJP considered itself more nationalist than other Indians.

The youth wing of the BJP, the Bharatiya Jan Yuva Morcha (BJYM), plans to hold rallies across India on January 12, which will conclude on January 26, with them hoisting the flag in Srinagar.

Kashmir had witnessed massive demonstrations against Indian rule last year for three months.

At least 100 stone-pelting protestors were killed in firing by the security forces.

Kashmir is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but they rule it in part. They have twice gone to war over the region, which remains at the core of their dispute. (ANI)