Omar slams BJP for flag hoisting plans at Lal Chowk

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP for its youth wing's decision to hoist the national flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on the eve of Republic Day. Amir Karim Tantray reports.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday lashed out at the BJP for its youth wing's decision to hoist the national flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on the eve of Republic Day.

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"The BJP is tying to provoke the people of Kashmir. If they hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk and there are repercussions, I will not be responsible for that," he said.

Nearly 50,000 activists of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) have decided to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk during their Jammu and Kashmir unity march.

In 1992, the then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi hoisted the Tricolour at Lal Chowk on the eve of Republic Day amid elaborate security cover. The BJYM move to do it again after 19 years has made the administration edgy as Kashmiri groups are likely to oppose the move.

Omar said, "The BJP is not happy if it is normal here, they want to set fire again." He asked, "Are they more nationalistic than us?"

Replying to a query on views of some state Congress leaders on rotational chief ministership, he said neither the National Conference nor Congress president Sonia Gandhi favoured it.

In New Delhi, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain flayed the J&K CM for his remarks.

He said the party's aim was to promote national sovereignty and it did not need a certificate from the leader who makes 'arrogant' statements.