JAMMU: A high voltage political drama continued at the PDP’s Jammu office on Monday with dozens of right wing activists assembling there and hoisting tricolour on the building. Police intervened after repeated attempts by the activists to hoist the flag there were made for the second day running.
Videos have emerged where BJP workers can be seen chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” while hoisting the flag.
A controversy had erupted after a recent statement by PDP President Mehbooba Mufti, who stated that she wouldn’t touch the Tricolor till the state flag of erstwhile J&K state is restored.
Earlier, on Sunday, a right wing activist Amandeep Singh Boparai accompanied by hundreds of his supporters reached the PDP office where they hoisted the national flag after a scuffle with PDP leaders.
A group of Akhil Bharatiya Vishwa Parishad (ABVP) activists on Sunday evening also reached the PDP office and hoisted national flags besides throwing green ink on the poster of Mehbooba Mufti.
“Mehbooba Mufti has stated that no one will hold Tiranga. We ask her to visit Jammu and to see that everyone holds a Tiranga in their hands,” said Boparai.
PDP spokesman and former MLC, Firdous Tak on the other hand accused BJP of trying to cash-in on the situation to regain its lost ground.
“This is part of cheap politics as BJP is left with no answer to public queries and is now trying to do such acts,” Tak added. Authorities, however have made heavy deployment of police in and around PDP office located in estates quarters area in Gandhi Nagar to keep the situation under control.
Those Insulting Tricolour Will Be Pushed To Pak: BJP
Every inch of Indian land that is occupied by Pakistan and China will be taken back, even if it means using military might, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina said on Monday.
He also attacked former chief minister and PDP supremo Mehbooba Mufti for her remarks on the tricolour, saying that “if such leaders want to stay in India”, they have to honour the tricolour flag.
Mehbooba on Friday had said she was not interested in contesting elections or holding the tricolour till the constitutional changes enforced on August 5 last year were rolled back.
The PDP leader had also said that she would hold the tricolour only when the separate flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was restored.
The BJP-led Centre on August 5 last year had abrogated the erstwhile state’s special status and bifurcated it into union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
On Mehbooba’s recent remarks, Raina said, “If such leaders want to live in India, they have to honour the tricolour otherwise they will be dragged out of the country and thrown into Pakistan.”
The J-K BJP chief, who led a ‘Tiranga Rally’ from Gandhi Nagar to Maharaja Hari Singh Park here to mark accession day, said Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler, had acceded entire Jammu and Kashmir to India on this day in 1947.
“However, Pakistan-backed tribals attacked and a vast area of our land, including Muzaffarabad, Mirpur, Kotli, Bhimbar, Bagh, Plandri, Sudnoti, Deva Btala, Neelam Valley, besides Gilgit and Baltistan, was taken away by force,” he said.
Raina added that all these areas are under illegal occupation of Pakistan and China. “These are parts of India and those living there are Indian nationals,” he asserted.
Pakistan and China have to vacate the Indian areas they illegally occupy as the accession of Jammu and Kashmir was full and final with India, he said during the rally that was organised by the BJP’s youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
“We have heard the people of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir chanting ‘Go back Pakistan’ and the day is not far away when they will be back in their own country (India),” Raina said, adding “we have taken a pledge at the rally to get back all our areas and unfurl the national flag there”.
“We will take every inch of our land, whether in the illegal occupation of Pakistan or China. For that if we have to use our military might, we will not stand back,” he said.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir are Indians from the core of their heart, Raina said, adding that it was “Nehru’s (former prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru) blunders that have resulted in the present day situation in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Hitting out at Mehbooba, Raina said it is some people’s misconception that they can disrespect the tricolour living in India. “We will not tolerate this,” he said.
Meanwhile, some youths and a lawyer hoisted the tricolour at the fence of the heavily-guarded PDP headquarters at Gandhi Nagar for the second day on Monday.
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad hoisted tricolour at the iron fence near the main entrance, but their attempt to hoist the same at the main building was foiled by police.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
