Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said people in Kashmir were threatened to hoist the Tricolour, as she uploaded first Indian Prime Minister’s picture on social media with erstwhile J&K’s flag standing next to the Tricolour in 1952.
Meanwhile, National Conference president Dr. Farooq Abdullah, who contracted COVID-19 recently, hoisted the flag at his residence in Srinagar.
NC vice president Omar Abdullah also changed his display picture on the eve of Independence Day. The picture of hoisting the flag is from the time when he ruled the erstwhile State of J&K as a Chief Minister.
“Jawahar Lal Nehru standing tall between two flags, the Indian national flag and J&K’s state flag adopted constitutionally in 1952 and bulldozed in 2019 to fulfil BJPs divisive agenda. Now, every foundational value that the Indian flag stands for too lies in peril,” Ms. Mufti said, while posting an image from 1952 with the two flags next to Nehru.
She said the people of J&K accepted the Indian flag in October 1947 “but on certain conditions and constitutional guarantees like their own flag and a separate constitution, way before BJP’s ideological parent – the RSS accepted it”.
The former Chief Minister said the J&K administration was “shamelessly boasting about Kashmiris hoisting the Indian flag”. “Truth is they were threatened to do so or else face the consequences. Post 75 years of accession, the GOI (Government of India) used all the might at its disposal to force people here to join its charade of pseudo and monetised patriotism,” she added.
In a first, Kashmir saw the Tricolour being hoisted on the houses of slain and active militants, including ‘commanders’ of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Taiba in south Kashmir. A picture of the father of slain Hizb ‘commander’ Riyaz Naikoo standing next to the Tricolour at his residence in Awantipora was also posted on social media.