The Jammu and Kashmir government will not allow hoisting of the tricolour by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activists at the historic Lal Chowk here on Republic Day.
This was decided at a meeting chaired by chief minister Omar Abdullah in Jammu on Thursday. A statement said the government had directed the civil and police
authorities to ensure that law and order was not disturbed ahead of Republic Day and “it was decided that no programme which had the potential of vitiating the peaceful atmosphere in the state will be allowed.”
The meeting was convened by the CM after his brief New Delhi visit recently, where he discussed the matter with Union home minister P. Chidambaram and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Back in Jammu, Mr Abdullah reviewed the situation with senior Cabinet colleagues belonging to both the National Confer-ence and the Congress. “He directed that while Republic Day should be celebrated with full fervour and enthusiasm, elements bent upon disturbing law and order should be dealt with sternly and directions to this effect should be passed on to district authorities as well,” an official spokesperson said.
The meeting was attended by ministers Abdur Rahim Rather, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Surjeet Singh Slathia, Sham Lal Sharma, Ghulam Hassan Mir and Raman Bhalla, besides advisers to the CM Mubarak Gul and Devender S. Rana, chief secretary S.S. Kapur, DGP Kuldeep Khoda, principal home secretary B.R. Sharma and others.
Official sources said the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra, which began from Kolkata last week, was expected to reach Srinagar on January 26. Sangh activists led by BJYM president Anurag Thakur also plan to hoist the tricolour at Lakhanpur, on the state’s border with Punjab. The government also plans to seal Srinagar’s Lal Chowk ahead of January 26.