Hoisting the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day has generated controversy among the political parties. While the Congress and the CPI(M) fear that it could create law and order problem and fuel communal polarisation in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP is determined to hoist the national flag there.
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy demanded that the Central rule should be imposed in Jammu and Kashmir if the state government fails to cooperate in hoisting the national flag there.
“The UPA government is duty bound under the Transaction of Business Rules framed under the Constitution to officially unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, J&K,” he said in a statement here.
Minister of state for road transport and highways Jitin Prasada said at Lakhimpur that every Indian has the right to unfurl the national flag but no one has the right to create law and order problem.
“Unfurling the national flag is a right of every Indian but no one has the right to create law and order problem,” he said, according to an agency report.
In Guwahati , AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said the BJP’s decision to hoist the national flag in J&K was controversial and smacks of “ill motives”.
“On the occasion of the Republic Day we should hoist the national flag but the BJP’s decision smacks of ill motives and is controversial,” Mr Singh told a Congress rally here.
He said the country should maintain communal harmony at any cost and the government will not allow anyone “to take advantage of the situation and create disturbance”.