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| Saffron brigade is a gainer even without flag hoisting | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Jan 19: Even if the activists of the youth wing of the BJP are not allowed to enter into Jammu and Kashmir for hoisting the tricolour in Srinagar on the Republic Day the saffron brigade has gained political advantage which it could not have achieved by unfurling the national flag at Lal Chowk.
If the Government ultimately foils the BJYM plan of unfurling the national flag at Lal chowk both the ruling coalition of the National Conference and the Congress besides the Congress led Government in the centre would be held responsible for siding with the separatists and going against the nationalist forces. There lies the advantage for the BJP.
That the National Conference lead Government decided to foil the BJP plan on hoisting the national flag was on the expected lines because not only the Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, but the Congress led UPA Government in the centre had fears that if the Ekta Yatra was not prevented from entering into Kashmir the valley could witness another phase of civilian strife on the pattern that was registered during the five summer months last year.
Though Omar Abdullah led Government announced its plan to stop the marchers at Lakhanpur but the announcement was made after the Chief Minister got the nod not only from the union Government but from the Army authorities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Official sources indicated that police barriers would be set up at a number of places between Kathua and Udhampur to prevent BJP activists from the region of Jammu from reaching Srinagar for the purpose of unfurling the national flag. Reports said that the Union Government also had received reports from its intelligence agencies that Kashmir could be in the grip of a new conflict if the flag hoising plan on the part of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha and the call far march to Lal Chowk by the separatists were not foiled. Accordingly, several routes in Srinagar city leading to Lal Chowk would be sealed right from the evening of January 25 so that not a single soul could responded to the JKLF call for Lal Chowk chalo.
Inside reports said that when Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, met the Union Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, in New Delhi on Wednesday the issue related to the Ekta Yatra did figure but it was sort of a formality that Omar wanted to follow. Instead the main purpose of the meeting was to secure assurance from the Home Minister on several other vital issues including the need for withdrawal of troops, and AFSPA from those areas where the security scenario had registered marked improvement and modernisation of the state police so that its men could fill the gap left open by demilitarisation.
Reports said that Chidambaram has assured Omar that some more companies of paramilitary forces would be pulled out of Jammu and Kashmir and the Government will seek expert opinion on the withdrawal of AFSPA from the districts of Srinagar, Budgam, Kathua, Jammu and Samba. The centre may opt for withdrawal of troops from a few areas to motivate separatists for taking part in the process of dialogue.
Omar seems to have become a helpless creature and for him there was no other alternative but to deal firmly with both the Ekta yatra and the Lal Chowk Chalo programme. If he had allowed the activists of the BJYM to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk and the supporters of the JKLF to march to the Red Square it could have led to a serious law and order problem.
Had he allowed the Ekta yatris to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk and prevented the separatists from carrying out the march to Lal Chowk he would have been dubbed a Hindu fundamentalist, a label that could be politically suicidal for the Chief Minister and his party. If he had prevented the BJYM activists from entering into Lal Chowk and allowed the separatists to march to Lal chowk he would have been dubbed an antinationalist that could have cost him his job. Hence he has decided to strike a balance. Stop both the Ekta yatra and the Lal chowk chalo programme. |
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