New Delhi: In the backdrop of BJP's plans to hoist national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says the Republic Day is not an occasion to score political points or promote divisive agendas.The Prime Minister has also called upon all concerned to observe maximum restraint in a sensitive state like Jammu and Kashmir.
The BJP's youth workers are on their way from West Bengal to Jammu and Kashmir. They plan to end their march at Lal Chowk, where, in 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmir a plebiscite. That speech forms the basis of separatist discourse. The BJP says hoisting the tricolor here will prove Kashmir is an integral part of India.
The separatists have called for a counter-march on January 26. And tense Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has warned, "It is clear we will not allow anybody to vitiate the atmosphere and the separatists travelling to Lal Chowk also fall under this purview?"
