Concern raises over flag hoisting at Lal Chowk
By Binu Paul, SiliconIndia   |   Tuesday, 25 January 2011, 14:08 IST   |    61 Comments
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Concern raises over flag hoisting at Lal Chowk
Bangalore: As the tussle over the tricolor reaches its peak, the tension mounts across the nation especially in the Kashmir valley. Analyzing the opinions and comments expressed on our site, the web world seems to be highly divided over the issue. Of the hundreds of opinions on our coverage of the story yesterday expressed by more than 200 readers, the majority questions the government's decision to stop the flag hoisting in Lal Chowk. The central and state governments have come under fierce criticism over their actions to stop the yatra. Many feel it's the right of every Indian citizen to hoist the national flag anywhere in the country and argue that the congress government is bowing down to the separatists by this act. "Lal Chowk is not in Pakistan .... Centre and the state government are 'surrendering' to separatists," says Nikku. The Congress party, PM Manmohan Singh, J-K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were harshly criticized for their actions, reactions, comments, and silence over the issue. While the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's 'Ekta Yatra' is nearing to Srinagar's Lal Chowk to hoist the national flag on the republic day, many of the BJP top brass are heading to Jammu and Kashmir to lead the final leg of the yatra. Sushma Swaraj was detained at the Jammu airport along with Arun Jaitley and Anant Kumar and the trio were later arrested and taken by road towards Punjab. The discussion forum has covered the various aspects of the issue and at many points, has touched the core issue of Kashmir nationalism. Joining the hot discussion on whether Kashmir belongs to India or not, Anilkumar Nair provided the details of the letter from Maharaja Hari Singh to Lord Mountbatten on the eve of Pakistan invasion on J-K in 1947 as a proof of the fact that Kashmir is undoubtedly an integral part of India. Many voice the words of L K Advani and sees the Tiranga Yatra as a challenge to the separatists. Readers have condemned the counter-march called by the separatist group on January 26th. "I believe instead of pulling BJP for this act, everyone should support them and accompany them and pose a strong protest to the separatist movement and action," Pankaj wrote. A strong call for revoking the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir could be heard in the discussion forum. A good number of people have shown their concern over the aftereffects of the BJP youth wing's action. They strongly believe that such an action will destroy the calmness prevailing in the valley after months of violence. Bharat rightly pointed this out by saying that "In today's situation, flag shall not be hoisted. This will disturb the life of common men. Few common people will die in all this process. Every where there is rest and why now you want to further worsen the life of common people in the state?" Readers fear that hoisting the flag would result in violence and death of people at a time when the valley is yet to recover from its previous bloodshed. An anonymous reader wrote, "Insisting on hoisting the flag in Lal Chowk (why only Lal Chowk?) is nothing but dirty politics being played by BJP. I am sure there are better civilized ways to get into power." This has been voiced by many readers who think that it's just a political gimmick by the opposition who has completely failed to impress the mass with its policies and functioning. Readers have also suggested that BJP should act more responsibly. They suggest that instead of going ahead with this publicity stunt, the party should initiate dialogues with Congress and NC to calm the situation. They argue that the BJP needs to understand the real value and worth of the national flag and these actions doesn't help them do it. However, the general public hopes that things go calm and quiet. Let the valley be peaceful and let it not witness violence and bloodshed again while our flag flies high in all her glory.

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