Kashmir government to deal with BJP’s flag hoisting plans
By IANSSunday, January 16, 2011
JAMMU - The Jammu and Kashmir government will have to deal with Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) plans to hoist the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk Jan 26 and its consequences on its own though the central government has promised to help in whatever way possible.
The central government, according to official sources, has told the Omar Abdullah government to devise its own strategy to deal with the situation arising out of BJP’s Rashtriya Ekta Yatra or national unity march that is expected to reach Srinagar on Republic Day.
“The centre will help the state in whatever it may want to, but the overall situation would have to be dealt with by the state government only,” a top official told IANS.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who is trying to consolidate the situation in Kashmir that is returning to normalcy after the summer unrest claimed 112 lives, is against BJP’s march to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk.
Abdullah has voiced serious reservations over the issue and fears that BJP’s move would cause “serious trouble” in the Kashmir Valley.
He had earlier warned that the “BJP alone would be responsible for the consequences”.
Separatists in the valley have expressed strong opposition to the plan. The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) and the Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference have also called for a “march to Lal Chowk” on the same day.
JKLF chairman Yasin Malik has threatened to stall BJP activists from hoisting the national flag, but the BJP has declared that it would go ahead with its plans.
The government, according to official sources, is mulling “very tough action” against the BJP activists as it does not want anything to disrupt peace in the valley.
BJP’s Rashtriya Ekta Yatra started from Kolkata Wednesday and its activists led by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president Anurag Thakur want to hoist the national flag in Lal Chowk Jan 26.
