http://oyepages.com/blog/view/id/50a3efdc54c8812544000031
In 1991-92, then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi took out the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. Defying a separatist writ, he hoisted the Tricolour on January 26, 1992, for the first time ever at Lal Chowk. The flag hosting ceremony lasted precisely 13 minutes. The P.V. Narasimha Rao-led government at the Centre provided security for the sensitive ceremony.
PHOTO: Mail Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S6wycLTGeo
Long before the BJP took up the Tiranga (Tricolour) to revive its fortunes and check its dwindling base, a little-known political activist from Jammu and his organisation made it a point to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk, in Srinagar, for five successive years.
"In 1994, two years after then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi unfurled the national flag there on January 26, 1992, Pakistan-based militants dared Indians to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. They also announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh to anyone who did so. We decided to take up the challenge and managed to do it," recalled Yogesh Gupta, chief of the J&K unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Shiv Sena.
While in 1992, Joshi, along with a handful of BJP leaders, was airlifted to Srinagar and unfurled the flag under tight security, Gupta and his "boys" played hide-and-seek with the security establishment to be able to carry out their "mission".
"The first time, we were around 3,500-4,000 Indians who were proceeding to Kashmir. We were stopped and detained at Udhampur — about 80 kms from Jammu. After we were released in the evening and told to go back to Jammu, I and six-seven other activists managed to sneak into Srinagar, and on January 26, at 12 noon, we reached Lal Chowk and started raising pro-India slogans. The shops were closed as the Valley was shut down on the call of the separatists. But, immediately after we hoisted the flag, we were bundled into cars and left near the Banihal Tunnel. When I returned to Jammu, I held a press conference to ask the militants to send me the reward money. While the money didn't come, I received death threats from the JKLF," he said.
He added, with considerable pride, that even the "BBC London" broadcast news of his "daring act" on January 26, 1994.
"Thereafter, every year, we repeated the job. Once, five or six of us simply caught the Indian Airlines flight to Srinagar for the purpose. But, it was never our intention to cause any rift between Hindus and Muslims. In fact, a lot of our members are Muslims. We once stayed at a Kashmiri Muslim family's house in Anantnag for two days before the D-Day. That it why I think, the BJP yatra is misguided," he said.
Gupta is not too enthused by the BJP youth wing's latest programme to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk. "While their (BJP) stand that since Kashmir is an integral territory of India, there shouldn't be any bar on hoisting the flag at Lal Chowk is correct, I am not sure what purpose will be achieved by doing so at this juncture when the state is trying to come out of the shadows of armed conflict. I think the BJP has made its point and should now accept the request of the state and central governments and give up the Yatra without precipitating matters," he said.
He added that successive governments in the state have failed to bring Kashmir closer to India. "Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is also playing partisan politics when he asks the BJP to give up its yatra. He is only trying to hide the failures of his government," he said.
Asked if he would "take up the challenge" of hoisting the flag at Lal Chowk again, he replied: "Maybe next year or the year after. Who knows?"
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/for-5-years-he-unfurled-the-tricolour-at-lal-chowk/742246/0
"1992: In 1990 there was an unsuccessful attempt by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk. Pakistan-sponsored separatists mocked that Indians sitting in Delhi cannot claim that Kashmir is a part of India. The BJP (the successor of the Jan Sangh) accepted the challenge and decided to take out a Yatra to Kashmir and unfurl the Tricolor there. That huge Ekta Yatra was led by Murli Manohar Joshi.
The Yatra started from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of mainland India, and travelled through Madhya Pradesh, UP, Haryana, Punjab. As the Ekta Yatra kept on progressing, people started to join in large numbers. Soon the number of Ekta Yatris rose so high that all the other parties like Congress, Communists, Janata Dal, Muslim League etc started getting uncomfortable.
There was huge pressure on the J&K government to stop the yatris from entering Srinagar. But the 50,000 yatris defied all threats from the separatists, bitter cold, snow and landslides and went on with their yatra. Many could not cross over as the path was blocked by heavy snow and landslides. Still many managed to reach Srinagar. Finally on 26th Jan 1992 the Tricolor was unfurled at Lal Chowk by Murli Manohar Joshi and Narendra Modi. Of course there was heavy security provided by the Indian Army. Amidst the slogans of Vande Mataram and Bharat Mata Ki Jai the Indian Tricolor was hoisted in the heart of Kashmir Valley." http://www.internationalopinion.com/id308.html
Uploaded on Jan 18, 2011
The BJP showed the courage to hoist the National Flag in Lal Chowk on January 26, 1992. And the Ekta Yatra of Murli Manohar Joshi began from Kanyakumari to Kashmir on December 11, 1991. The aim of the Yatra was to make people aware of the problem and awaken the Government about the gravity of the situation in Kashmir. Wherever the Yatra reached people thought themselves linked with the trouble in Kashmir.
LAL CHOWK TO LALAN COLLEGE, MODI MOCKS NEW DELHI
Sunday, 18 August 2013 | Kanchan Gupta | in Coffee Break
More eyes were trained on Lal Chowk than on Rajpath on Republic Day, 1992. On Independence Day, more people heard and watched Narendra Modi than who sat through Manmohan Singh’s whine from Red Fort
When Murli Manohar Joshi, then president of Bharatiya Janata Party, launched his Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari on December 11, 1991, there was natural curiosity in the event. That curiosity metamorphosed into rousing passion as the yatra wound its way through the heartland and headed towards its final destination, Srinagar, where it was to conclude with the national Tricolour being unfurled at Lal Chowk on Republic Day. By mid-January, it had become a caravan of cars, jeeps and buses, with people spontaneously joining the yatra. The mood was festive and laced with eager anticipation: Hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk had come to symbolise both national pride and sovereignty. Yet, there were questions and imponderables. Would the administration allow Joshi to proceed to Lal Chowk? Or would he be detained in Jammu? If he was indeed allowed to go up to Lal Chowk, would the jihadis and their separatist patrons, retaliate?
For those who came of age in this century and those who may have forgotten those terrible dark days, it would be in order to recall the anarchy that prevailed in the Kashmir Valley through the early-1990s. The Kashmiri Pandits, to the last man, woman and child, had been driven out of their homes in the land of their forefathers by Kalashnikov-toting jihadis who gave them two options: Leave or die. Overnight an entire community of Hindus had become refugees in their own country — and still remain so, their return made impossible by belligerent Muslims. That ethnic cleansing was, and remains, a blot on the collective conscience of the nation. Congress MP and UPA Minister Shashi Tharoor’s sly attempt to rewrite the history of that exodus may serve him well with his political bosses and the Muslim voters of Kerala, but it will not change facts as they then existed and still remain incontrovertible.
The jihadis had a free run of Kashmir valley and each day fetched increasingly depressing news of the State’s failure to halt their atrocities. Kashmir, it seemed, had been irrevocably lost, thanks to the machinations of the National Conference in Srinagar and an effete National Front Government headed by VP Singh in New Delhi. PV Narasimha Rao’s regime, which came to power in 1991, appeared to be more eager to appease the US (President Bill Clinton during his first term was aggressively pushing Pakistan’s case) and its special envoy Robin Raphel, who was a junior functionary in the State Department but wielded tremendous clout, than taking on the separatists. The future looked bleak.
It was against this backdrop that the idea of hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, a regular practice that had been discarded after separatists began hoisting Pakistan’s flag on the Clock Tower, caught the popular imagination of Indians across the country. By the time the yatra reached Jammu, it had gathered in its wake more than 50,000 people. Unfortunately, heavy snowfall and landslides prevented their onward march with the Jammu-Srinagar highway blocked. That did not deter Joshi. He was taken in a helicopter to Srinagar and on January 26, the Tricolour was hoisted at Lal Chowk. On that Republic Day, I had written in this newspaper, more eyes were on Lal Chowk in Srinagar than on Rajpath in Delhi: India wanted to see the Tricolour flutter tall and proud in the heart of jihad-infested Kashmir. There were few or no tools to test that assertion. Fortunately, there are tools available now, but we shall come to that later.
In its own way, Joshi raising the Tricolour at Lal Chowk was an audacious act, unprecedented and unexpected — among Delhi’s chattering classes and the political elite whose members, to borrow Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid’s expression, were and continue to remain proverbial frogs in the well. On that occasion too we had heard scathing criticism of Joshi for trying to snatch attention away from the main Republic Day event on Rajpath, as we now hear of Narendra Modi, the BJP’s putative Prime Ministerial candidate, for daring to deliver an Independence Day speech contesting the bunkum heard from the ramparts of Red Fort where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had, in his whining voice, read out a dhobi list of bogus achievements and promises earlier that morning. The other reason I have mentioned the Ekta Yatra in some detail is because it was conceived, planned and organised by Narendra Modi, then a mere party functionary. Being audacious and challenging convention, it can be said with some certitude, is not something new for him; he has done it more than once and with great style.
As on January 26, 1992, I would argue that on August 15, 2013, all eyes — and ears — were trained on Lalan College in Bhuj and not Lal Qila in Old Delhi. In other words, more people watched and heard Narendra Modi than they did Manmohan Singh. If the Prime Minister had whined, his challenger had roared in response; as a contest, it was a non-starter. But what it served to achieve was to shake up the Delhi establishment and send tremors through Delhi’s entrenched fraudulent Left-liberal elite. The epicentre of those tremors was Bhuj. Never before had an outsider smashed through the make-believe barrier, the imaginary Delhi Gate that protects the Establishment and its hold over power, in so rude a manner. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad calling Narendra Modi “Gangu Teli” is more than a deplorable casteist slur; it’s a reflection of the fear that now grips the establishment and the elite. On the other hand, the huge unwashed masses are elated — delighted that Modi has hit Congress and its stooges where it hurts the most.
Fortunately, there now exist tools, as I mentioned earlier, to gauge popular opinion. The Internet is a great leveller and facilitator for this purpose. India Today ran a poll:
‘Independence Day speech: Manmohan vs Modi — Who do you think gave a better speech?’
In all fairness, India Today listed the points made by each of them, and in some detail too. It then asked readers to vote for either Manmohan Singh or Narendra Modi. On Saturday evening, the results were: Narendra Modi 92 per cent; Manmohan Singh eight per cent. Well, I did say, as a contest, it was a non-starter. Yet the significance of these numbers can be minimised by the Congress and its apologists only at their own expense.
(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi)http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/coffee-break/lal-chowk-to-lalan-college-modi-mocks-new-delhi.html
BJP youth wing on their Ekta Yatra at the Punjab border
Airlifted Hindu Nationalists Fly India's Flag in Kashmir
India's most prominent Hindu nationalist politician carried the nation's flag into the central square of Kashmir's capital today in a defiant gesture of Indian domination of the rebellious, predominantly Muslim region.
Explosions and gunfire echoed through Srinagar's streets, which were barren except for tens of thousands of police and soldiers sent to protect the Hindu leader, Murli Manohar Joshi.
For two years, militant Kashmiri separatists have waged a full-scale guerrilla war to drive Indian troops and officials from the Vale of Kashmir, a war that has cost the lives of thousands of civilians, guerrillas and members of the security forces.
The army and police imposed an around-the-clock curfew for the last two days on towns and villages throughout the valley and have banned all civilian vehicle traffic. Guerrillas have attacked army patrols and fixed positions by night and by day. Weapons Fire Heard All Day
All day today, weapons fire was heard throughout Srinagar. There were reports that at least 20 people were killed by late evening, including 3 members of the security forces.
The status of Kashmir has been disputed since India and Pakistan became independent nations in 1947, with both countries claiming sovereignty. Each now controls part of the region, with China occupying an adjacent sector. India's efforts to suppress the rebellion have been frequently criticized by international human rights groups, which cite hundreds of instances of torture and murder of suspected militants at the hands of security officials.
Repeatedly in recent weeks, the major rebel groups here have threatened to prevent Mr. Joshi, the president of India's largest opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, from traveling to Srinagar with thousands of his followers.
On Friday, rebels detonated a bomb in the office of Kashmir's senior police official, gravely wounding five of the region's top security officials. The attack came as Mr. Joshi declared that he would not be deterred from leading a caravan of thousands of supporters into the valley to show the Indian flag on the nation's Republic Day. Security for Convoy Impossible
He had begun his trek, which he named Pilgrimage for Unity, 44 days before at India's southernmost point. But the inability of the security forces to protect even their highest officials made it clear that there was no way, despite the presence of several hundred thousand troops in the Vale of Kashmir, to protect a convoy of cars and buses filled with zealous Hindus. So Mr. Joshi and a small contingent of his closest supporters were flown here on Saturday night.
By daybreak the army had erected a 15-foot-high makeshift white flagpole on a low dais in the center of the city's central square, Lal Chowk, and covered it with orange, brown and red Kashmiri carpets. At the flagpole's tip, a tightly folded Indian flag dangled from a halyard.
Then, less than an hour before Mr. Joshi was due to arrive, there were two thunderous explosions, which the army said appeared to be detonations of rockets fired by guerrilla groups.
Suddenly, two olive-drab army buses lumbered into the square, which was empty except for soldiers and a small crowd of journalists. About 70 of Mr. Joshi's supporters stepped gingerly from the buses, uneasily eyeing the huge military presence.
Four white sedans sped into the square, and Mr. Joshi, in a traditional Kashmiri feran, or woolen cape, and saffron scarf, hurried toward the flagpole. He began waving an Indian flag, which he tried to mount on a collapsible flagpole that a supporter supplied. But as followers pushed to get close, the pole broke in several places and the flag tumbled down onto Mr. Joshi. National Anthem Is Sung.
A 'minor' symbol of nationalism in Srinagar
The clock tower at Lal Chowk, in the heart of Srinagar, has apparently no significance for Kashmiris. The tower is in a dilapidated condition, the clock has stopped functioning long back, and people pass by even without noticing it.
Hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk evoked protests
In 1980, Bajaj Electricals raised the clock tower in the middle of Lal Chowk. "It served as an advertisement for Bajaj in Srinagar," Farooq Ahmad Shah, director- tourism, said.
He said that for years it was not renovated. Now the state government has started renovation work on the tower. "We want to repair it on the lines of traditional Kashmiri architecture," Shah said.
Flag hoisting at Lal Chowk began at the height of militancy in the state in 1991 when BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi took BJP youth wing to hoist Tricolour at Lal Chowk
In 1980, Bajaj Electricals raised the clock tower in the middle of Lal Chowk. "It served as an advertisement for Bajaj in Srinagar," Farooq Ahmad Shah, director- tourism, said.
He said that for years it was not renovated. Now the state government has started renovation work on the tower. "We want to repair it on the lines of traditional Kashmiri architecture," Shah said.
Flag hoisting at Lal Chowk began at the height of militancy in the state in 1991 when BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi took out the ' Ekta Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, ostensibly to symbolise India's assertion in an area where Pakistani flags were seen as a grim reminder of separatists' defiance.
The announcement brought militant groups together. And the day the Tricolour was unfurled on the tower, thousands of bullets were fired in the air by militants across the Valley to express resentment. Joshi had to hoist the flag in a haste, as a rocket landed metres from the tower.
For the past two years, even the CRPF has not unfurled the flag on the bunker about 200 metres away from Lal Chowk.
On June 27, 2008, when Kashmir erupted against the transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board, thousands of people hoisted scores of green flags on the tower.
Mainstream political parties, including the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party, use the tower to address political gatherings. Early this month, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti addressed a rally near the tower to criticise the government over frequent power failures.
"Lal Chowk has been historically important right from 1947. Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah and the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru gave several significant speeches here," said Prof. Gul Muhammad Wani, who teaches political science in Kashmir University. He, however, pointed out that it was Joshi who turned the tower into a " political symbol" by hoisting the national flag on it in 1991.
He termed the Yuva Morcha's latest move a political gimmick. "The BJP has lost two successive elections and now they want to build the party on emotional and corruption- related issues," he added.
A TOWER OF CONTENTION
- Lal Chowk, a business hub in Kashmir's summer capital, is named after the central marketplace in Moscow - Red Square
- 1n 1980, Bajaj Electricals raised the clock tower at Lal Chowk. It served as an advertisement for the company
- Flag hoisting at Lal Chowk started at the height of militancy in the state in 1991 by BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi
- The state government is renovating the dilapidated clock tower in traditional Kashmiri architecture
Indian Flag at Lal Chowk, Srinagar?
IssueNet Edition| Date : 25 Jan , 2011
The ongoing march by a political party to raise the national flag in Sri Nagar is being dubbed as politically motivated by its detractors. It indeed is a move for political mobilization for ostensibly a matter of national pride. But in a democracy, is there any movement or any endeavour by any political party, which does not factor political gains and losses. Political parties nevertheless try to mobilize people within the known parameters of their respective ideologies.
It is perfectly legitimate. Political parties do not exist only to fight elections.
Which sensitivities of Kashmiris are some people talking about? Is it nationalistic sensitivity or anti-national sensitivity?
This is not the first time that national security issues are being politicized. It has happened even with respect of Kargil Diwas and Vijay Diwas. There is no political unanimity in tackling the Maoist problem.
The moot question is as to why otherwise an innocuous endeavour to hoist national flag at Lal Chawk at Srinagar on the Republic Day has become such an explosive issue? Why has it become a controversy? The same controversy was courted by the same political party when it had made a similar move in the year 1992.
It is a stark reminder that the security situation in Kashmir has not changed in the last two decades. The religious discourse has also not changed. The security situation has been allowed to rather deteriorate to a level when the state has to employ massive machinery to abort the so called ‘Ekta Yatra’. It is indecisive and subverted politics over the years that are responsible for this situation.
It clearly reflects the level of threat posed by the anti-India and pro-Pak constituency in Kashmir. It indicates that there are elements in the separatist leadership of Kashmir, who cannot breakaway from the shackles of the Pakistan military-intelligence establishment. The area of Lal Chawk has been traditionally symbolic of this threat for the last few years. It is for this reason that the concerned political party has embarked on this symbolic yatra. Leave alone any Indian, if a Kashmiri Muslim or a Kashmiri Pandit wants to hoist the flag at Lal Chawk, who is Yaseen Malik to stop them? If he does, he should be charged for sedition.
The General must realize that the security discourse of this country is mainly dictated by politics. It is a reality and there is no escaping the fact.
In a television debate, a former Chief of Army Staff tried to describe the whole issue as politically motivated. The General must realize that the security discourse of this country is mainly dictated by politics. It is a reality and there is no escaping the fact. Contrary to what he said, the morale of the troops does get affected when Pakistani flags are hoisted and the Indian National Flag is trampled upon. Which sensitivities of Kashmiris are some people talking about? Is it nationalistic sensitivity or anti-national sensitivity? Is it Kashmiri sensitivity or sensitivity of J&K? Is it pro-unity sensitivity or anti-unity sensitivity? Is Kashmiri sensitivity restricted to the 18 percent area of J&K?
How much more time, money and lives it will take to address the sensitivity of anti-India constituency in Kashmir? If this constituency is in minority in Kashmir then why are the central government and the state government so apprehensive?
The brave and matured men of the Indian Army have been witness to this insult for so many years. They have been sacrificing their lives for a solution to the problem. Left to the military, the problem would have been solved long time back, but the vicious politics of Kashmir and ensured that it did not happen. All governments in the Center have been hostage to Kashmiri politicians, some of whom draw their inspiration and sustenance from powers bent upon derailing the Indian story.
The military therefore cannot solve an internal problem without demanding the appropriate political support and decisions. It can be done, once it categorically conveys to the political masters that military personnel are not expendable and that they fight for objectives within a given time-frame.
Till then, the country is doomed to bleed with no end in sight and security will continue to be sacrificed at altar of politics.
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http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/indian-flag-at-lal-chowk-srinagar/
KASHMIR’S RED SQUARE
As the BJP’s flag hoisting plan brings back memories of its previous venture in 1992, Haroon Mirani recounts the history of Lal Chowk, which has remained a centre of political upheavals in Kashmir.Jan 26, 1992:Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi unfurls tricolour at the Ghanta Ghar, amid heavy security in Lal Chowk, Srinagar’s main square. Sounds of gunfire and blasts, carried out by militants, rock the city. BJP trumpeted victory, as if it had won Kashmir for India by its move.
August 15, 2008: The paramilitary CRPF hoisted the tricolour at Ghanta Ghar (clock tower) in the morning, which by now had become a routine for the paramilitary group in charge of Srinagar. But for a change, the CRPF takes off the flag soon after unfurling ceremony. In the evening a group of protestors, chanting pro-freedom slogans, assemble at the venue and hoist a green flag, triggering panic in New Delhi.
Jan 26, 2009: CRPF stops its practise of flag hoisting at Ghanta Ghar on republic and independence days.
Jan 2011: BJP has embarked on an “ekta yarta” with an aim to hoist tricolour in Lal Chowk on January 26 again. The state government is opposing the move calling it a provocation. Separatist group JKLF has dared the BJP to go ahead with its plan and called for a Lal Chowk march on the day. The drama is unfolding, as January 26 approaches.
Standing in the centre of Kashmir’s Red Square – Lal Chowk-, Ghanta Ghar may not be a historical structure. Nor can it be described as “tall” by any standards. But lately, it has become a centrepiece of jingoist nationalist politics over Kashmir, especially ever since the BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi hoisted an Indian flag on it in 1992.
If the paramilitary groups enthuse pride in a parallel flag hoisting ceremony (the official state function takes place at Bakshi Stadium) at the tower, large pro-freedom crowds have cheered at people hoisting green flags (or of any separatist group) on the structure in recent years. Jubilant crowds trumpet victory, as if they have snatched Kashmir from India.
Hoisting a flag at Lal Chowk doesn’t change the status of Jammu and Kashmir, but nobody misses the political statement the act makes.
In 2008, when entire Kashmir had erupted in a surprise mass agitation, the government was grappling to contain pro-freedom protests. While brute force was being used to tame people, security agencies made it a priority to secure just one place – Lal Chowk.
The city centre doesn’t comprise of any seat of power, but still the small square was thought to be too dangerous to be left unguarded. Multiple barricades of concertina wire and tin sheets were erected on all sides of Lal Chowk. The clock tower was secured by tin sheets, razor wire, and a tight file of police and paramilitary men. Thousands of troopers thwarted any human movement towards Lal Chowk, as if people were not to come for a simple rally, but to occupy the place.
In the last three years, the clock tower has seen more flags hoisted on it than the years of its existence. Sources say the renovation of Ghanta Ghar in 2010, was designed to prevent any defiant flag bearer to get to the top. But, as it turned out, that was not to be. In September, when Mirwiaz Umar Farooq lead a march on Eid-ul-Fitr from Eidgah to Lal Chowk and addressed people at the venue along with JKLF leader Yasin Malik, scores of flags representing almost every other Kashmiri separatist group saw its way to the tower top.
It may be nothing more than a battle of wits, but the emphasis both sides (state and separatists) give it, provides it enough political weight.
Kashmir has just been through one of its hottest political summers. Echoes of freedom have made headlines around the world. Rightwing Hindu nationalist groups are blaming the Congress-led government in New Delhi for giving in to separatist pressure.
It is in this context that the BJP has launched its ekta yatra or national unity march. On January 12, BJP president Nitin Gadkari flagged off the march from Kolkata by handing over a tricolour to Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) president Anurag Thakur.The yatra, on a bus converted to look like a chariot used by Hindu warriors of yore, will pass through 11 states before reaching Lal Chowk on Jan 26.
“This is very unfortunate that after 63 years of independence we need to go to Kashmir for hoisting a flag. Lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits have been evicted from Kashmir. Congress is only interested in vote bank politics,” Gadkari said after launching the yatra.
“The problem of Kashmir is because of the appeasement policies of the Congress. Why is it that this government doesn’t have the courage to say no to ‘azaadi’ (freedom) …Kashmir is an integral part of India and it will remain so,” Gadkari said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father Farooq Abdullah have already criticised the BJP for the march, describing it as a provocation.
“When Kashmir is now quiet, they want to set it on fire again. The BJP leadership will be wholly and solely responsible for any consequences,” the chief minister said.
“When Kashmir is now quiet, they want to set it on fire again. The BJP leadership will be wholly and solely responsible for any consequences,” the chief minister said.
State Congress has joined in, opposing the BJP plan. So have the separatists.
Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik said his party would prevent the flag hoisting. Malik also called for a Lal Chowk march on the day. Hurriyat (M) has supported the call.
Nineteen years ago, when militancy in Kashmir was at its peak, BJP had launched a similar march. Militant groups threatened to attack the march in Kashmir. While the procession coming by road was stopped in Jammu as the state government announced the closure of highway to Srinagar, because of “landslides”, Murli Manohar Joshi flew to curfewed Srinagar. He hoisted the flag at Lal Chowk secured by a heavy contingent of police and troops. Gunfire boomed and a few rockets fired by militants fell nearby. But Joshi declared victory.
“At that point of time many secular commentators said that it amounted to declaring ideological war on Kashmir,” said Prof Gul Wani who had been following the events closely. “It was symbolism of exhibition of might of Indian state because Joshi was surrounded by security forces.”
After 1992 it was a routine for troopers stationed at Lal Chowk to unfurl the flag.
The state government is worried that the BJP’s fresh move will add to the tension in the volatile valley. But for now it seems nothing is going to stop the BJP, except if the state is firm on not letting their workers enter the valley, or at least Lal Chowk.
In contemporary history of Kashmir, Lal Chowk has witnessed love, betrayal, passion, drama and destruction.
Lal Chowk’s history is rooted in a bloody revolution thousands of kilometres away in Russia.
Lal Chowk is the living example of communist influence on Kashmir’s political landscape and freedom struggle before 1947.
“The 1917 Russian revolution had profound effect on entire South Asia and Kashmir was not immune to it,” said Prof Wani. “The conditions of Russia and Kashmir were similar at that time – exploitative King, aristocracy, feudalism, agrarian crisis and peasant class.”
In a fit of excitement the young communist supporters of Kashmir named the square in city centre as Lal Chowk, the Urdu equivalent of Moscow’s Red Square. As the ideology of freeing people from exploitation appealed to masses, nobody objected to it and the name stuck.
After that Lal Chowk became the epicentre of politico, social, cultural and economic movements of Kashmir. By 1947 its position was firmly established, despite the fact that the then Maharaja and aristocracy usually avoided Lal Chowk. Their palace and seat of governance was established on the other side of river Jhelum.A communist study circle not far away from Lal Chowk was also founded where the people associated with this ideology would sit, read and discuss.
Prof Wani says that communism had a profound impact on Kashmir’s political landscape at that time. “Even the Naya Kashmir manifesto of 1944 forwarded by National Conference was handiwork of certain communist leaders,” said Wani. “People like G M Sadiq, Girdhari Lal Dogra and Peer Gayasudin were heavily influenced by these communist leaders and they were instrumental in bringing communist influence in NC.”
According to Andrew Whitehead, author of Mission in Kashmir, “The contents of the document (Naya Kashmir) were largely translated from a Soviet Central Asian publication. The only section which had to be written afresh was Sheikh Abdullah’s introduction.”
1947
Lal Chowk played its role in shaping the history of the subcontinent in 1947.
Lal Chowk played its role in shaping the history of the subcontinent in 1947.
As the tribals raided Kashmir in 1947, Kashmir’s future was determined in the lanes of Lal Chowk.
“The environs everywhere were tense and tribals were heading towards Srinagar,” recalls Mohammed Shafi Shehri, 83, perhaps the oldest surviving shopkeeper at Lal Chowk. “The National Conference in order to block their advance selected Maqbool Sherwani for the job.”
Sherwani, according to Shehri, was taught for a couple of hours to ride a scooter. “Then he was dressed in an Achkan (long coat) and trouser of the father of a local NC leader to give him a respectable look,” said Shehri. “He was directed to meet them midway, provide them wrong information and thus save Srinagar and the airport.”
Sherwani did the job perfectly as he misled the raiders by coaxing them about a short cut to the airport. “They couldn’t reach airport, but Indian army did and rest is the history,” said Shehri. “The raiders came to know about the truth of Sherwani, but it was too late. He was done a painful death.”
Shehri is one of the few people who saw first group of Indian army, who landed in Kashmir. “They were tall Sikhs chanting religious slogans, ready to fight,” said Shehri.
There was a large square in front of Palladium cinema, which was used for political rallies. After the first Indo-Pak war ended, Sheikh Abdullah addressed the people at this place. “They had captured two raiders and they were shown to people from the window of Punjab Muslim hotel,” said Shehri. “These are the enemies who attacked us and took the Samovar handles, roared Sheikh.”
For most of the people this was the first time they had seen the raiding tribals and they tipped over each other to have a closer look of the captured raiders.
As people were going through an ideological struggle for determining their future, India’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru made his bit to woo Kashmir by delivering his famous speech at Lal Chowk. Nehru promised people of a future where they will be free to choose their destiny.
“We have only come to help Kashmir, to throw infiltrators out and once peace is restored, the Indian army will leave,” said Nehru to a record gathering any prime minister of India has managed to attract till date in Kashmir. According to experts, the unfulfilling of that promise, heard with lots of expectations, became the starting point of alienation, which turned into hatred and confrontation as it passed on to future generations.
Sheikh Abdullah went a bit further while translating the words of Nehru. Abdullah recited a Persian poem, “Man tu shudam, tu man shudi; Taakas nagoyed baad azi, man degeram tu degeri (I became you and you became I; so none could say you are separate from me).”At that time Kashmir had very few vehicles. “Just three vehicles used to ferry passengers to Rawalpindi via the Jhelum valley road,” said Shehri. “Local transport was either tongas or people preferred walking on foot due to poverty.”
Shehri himself used to come to his shop in Lal Chowk regularly on foot for over forty years from his residence in downtown area. He described it as a secret behind his good health at this advanced age.
US based Foreign affairs magazine once described Lal Chowk as the most volatile bazaar in the most volatile city in India’s most volatile state.
Contemporary history of Kashmir started right from Lal Chowk. The Emergency administration of Jammu and Kashmir took over on 31st of October 1947. Its operational office was set up in Palladium Cinema in Lal Chowk, while the formal offices were in Old Secretariat.
The present day Palladium cinema was also for some time the office of National Conference.
“Even the plebiscite Front activities were carried out from certain hotels in Lal Chowk which belonged to the influential workers of the front,” said Wani.
Lal Chowk has also been the epicentre of political feuds particularly between National Conference and the Awami Action committee popularly known as Sher-Bakra fight. “There were some businessmen and hoteliers belonging to downtown area and they were always at the receiving end of some NC workers,” said Shehri.
Professor Wani terms Lal Chowk as the nerve centre for Kashmir. “It has assumed centrality for Kashmir in every way,” said Wani. “We can compare it with Red Square of Moscow, Times Square of the U.S. or Tiananmen square of China in their importance for their respective regions.”
Lal Chowk has come up to its billing as Kashmir’s political nerve centre. The 1975 Indira-Abdullah Accord, regarded by many as another watershed in Kashmir’s politics, was announced from Lal Chowk by Sheikh Abdullah.
In the run up to the accord Lal Chowk remained the centre of marathon public meetings, wherein Sheikh Abdullah did his best to bring people around to his viewpoint. “In these meetings he explained the contents and the context of the accord to the people and told them the circumstances in which this accord was happening,” said Wani.
Shehri remembers an incident, when Abdullah was to go to New Delhi to sign the accord. Shehri’s friend, a local baker, known as Noor Daba who was a staunch nationalist, was perturbed by the Abdullah’s “changing attitude”. He single-handedly dared to confront Abdullah at Lal Chowk when the latter was leaving for New Delhi to sign the accord.
“When Sheikh Abdullah had boarded his car, Noor Daba blocked his way with a vermillion mark on his forehead,” said Shehri. “He told Sheikh, you have decided to sell Kashmir, but sell it without me.”
Everybody was surprised, Shehri says, “It was a long time before people understood what Noor was trying to convey.”
A decade later people coming out of a theatre would bring down a large billboard with Shiekh’s picture in Lal Chowk. That marked the end of NC’s hold on the city’s main square. The Mustapha Akkad’s movie Lion of the Desert, many political scientists believe stoked a rebellion where people especially youth began to draw parallels between Abdullah and Omar Mukhtar and were disappointed.
National Conference had got a rousing welcome in Kashmir even after the infamous 1975 Accord
Army raids Lal Chowk
One of the turning points in Army-civilian relations in Kashmir was the army’s vandal raid at Lal Chowk on July 26, 1980. That day, a large army contingent attacked Lal Chowk; vandalising shops, looting, and beating people. Earlier there was a scuffle between some civilians and an army driver, who had hit a civilian vehicle at Tourist Reception Centre.
One of the turning points in Army-civilian relations in Kashmir was the army’s vandal raid at Lal Chowk on July 26, 1980. That day, a large army contingent attacked Lal Chowk; vandalising shops, looting, and beating people. Earlier there was a scuffle between some civilians and an army driver, who had hit a civilian vehicle at Tourist Reception Centre.
Taking it as an insult, a large contingent of army men returned and assaulted people in Lal Chowk.“That was a terrible time …everybody was taken unawares,” said Shehri.
Students, bystanders, businessmen, anyone they could lay hands on was mercilessly thrashed. When police tried to intervene, they too were beaten to pulp.
The then Superintendent of Police, Ali Muhammad Watali and a police officer, Javed Makhdoomi were hospitalised following the thrashing. Some people allege that the army had brought petrol to set fire to Lal Chowk.
“Prior to that incident army troopers and officers used to visit Lal Chowk for shopping and it was good business,” said Shehri. “But all that changed after the incident as Lal Chowk became out of bounds for Army.”
The army men’s action angered the people.
Next day, Sheikh Abdullah hurriedly addressed people at Lal Chowk, condemned the incident and announced compensation for damaged property. A Court of Inquiry was also ordered, but it never saw the light of it day.
The pain
On July 31, 1988, two bomb blasts rocked Srinagar, one outside the telegraph office, and the other near the golf course, announcing the start of armed insurgency in Kashmir. In the next two decades Lal Chowk witnessed scores of gun battles and hundreds of grenade attacks.
On July 31, 1988, two bomb blasts rocked Srinagar, one outside the telegraph office, and the other near the golf course, announcing the start of armed insurgency in Kashmir. In the next two decades Lal Chowk witnessed scores of gun battles and hundreds of grenade attacks.
“We had never seen or even imagined such time,” said Shehri.
A footwear trader at Lal Chowk Aftab Ahmad remembers how Lal Chowk used to buzz with people even after midnight. He says, shopkeepers would leave Lal Chowk after 1 am, when the last show at Palladium cinema would end.
“Transport was readily available and there was sense of security,” said Aftab. “Business too was good as Lal Chowk was a must shop site for tourists as well as locals.”
The biggest incident to impact Lal Chowk was the arson of 1993. On April 10, 1993, a BSF party in retaliation of burning of their abandoned building, allegedly set fire to Lal Chowk. “That was terrible. So many lives too were lost and property and goods worth crores were razed,” said Aftab, who with his father and locals at Koker Bazar salvaged whatever they could, from the fire.
The Human Rights Watch report of 1993, records that as people attempted to flee the burning buildings, they found that the doors bolted from the outside.
“Jammu & Kashmir police officers reported BSF commanders forbade them from helping the trapped civilians escape, saying ‘let them burn’, and even fired on them as they attempted to rescue trapped civilians,” said the report.
Many lives were lost inthe blaze and BSF firing.
BSF troopers also fired on people fleeing in Shikaras. At least 16 bodies were later recovered from the river.
The gutted Palladium cinema remains the mark of that arson, even as other buildings were rebuilt.
The fire destroyed 59 homes, 190 shops, two office buildings, five commercial buildings, two schools, and a shrine.
Lal Chowk has seen too much destruction, Shehri says, and 1993 arson was just one big incident.
Symbol of resistance
Lal Chowk which for decades has been a trading hub and political nerve centre of Kashmir is also the centre of resistance and protests. From SRTC employees demanding their wages to secessionist demonstrations, everybody wants to make it to Lal Chowk.
Lal Chowk which for decades has been a trading hub and political nerve centre of Kashmir is also the centre of resistance and protests. From SRTC employees demanding their wages to secessionist demonstrations, everybody wants to make it to Lal Chowk.
Political scientists say that the square has assumed a centrality in the imagination of Kashmiris.
![]( "A file photo of Palladium Cinema before the arson")
Moreover from 1990, the images of crackdowns and shutdowns in Kashmir flashed to the outside world are mostly captured in Lal Chowk.
“Being a media hub has only added to its importance,” says Prof. Wani.
Moreover from 1990, the images of crackdowns and shutdowns in Kashmir flashed to the outside world are mostly captured in Lal Chowk.“Being a media hub has only added to its importance,” says Prof. Wani.
The government is also aware of the political significance of the city’s main square. Whenever separatists call for a march to or demonstration at Lal Chowk the government clamps curfew or restrictions.
Lal Chowk has a high impact value for any incident, which makes it more prone to violent attacks as it makes to the headlines world over.
Off late, the square has been renovated, which some think is the death of Lal Chowk. “The meaning of square is to have large open space with nothing in it and the government has literally destroyed that idea by building an unnecessary park on it,” said Ajaz Rasool. “It is the end of this famous square.”
Lal Chowk is silently witnessing its own transformation, with the distinction of having a clock tower which never shows the time right, perhaps reflecting the bad times Kashmir is living in.
Sheikh Abdullah’s numerous speeches at the square were, Prof Wani says, aimed at raising the political consciousness of the people and instilling a distinct nationality in them besides problems with New Delhi or Pakistan or between the two countries were continuously raised and debated from its podiums “Lal Chowk represents the turbulence of Kashmir politics and political instability of Kashmir,” says Prof Wani
The BJP’s endeavour to unfurl tricolour at Lal Chowk on January 26 is bound to rake up nationalistic passions throughout India, signalling Lal Chowk has grown too big even outside the confines of Kashmir and impacts the lives of more than a billion people.
