Jammu: The BJP is adamant that it will go ahead with its Ekta Yatra and hoist the tricolour in the heart of Srinagar on Republic Day tomorrow. The Jammu and Kashmir government is determined not to let the BJP leaders and workers get there. And it is backed firmly by the Centre that has asserted that BJP leaders must respect law and order measures.
All eyes right now are on what happens next at Madhopur in Punjab and then Lakhanpur, from where the BJP workers and leaders plan to enter J&K. Last evening, BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were forcibly escorted out of Jammu airport and sent to Madhopur and BJP workers plan to hold a rally there today before pushing into J&K from Lakhanpur. (Read: Arrested, tweeted Sushma, then deposited in Punjab)
Strict security measures are in place throughout the state. The Omar Abdullah government has sealed the border with Punjab and imposed Section 144 in Lakhanpur. Authorities say the BJP will not be allowed in. The Jammu-Srinagar highway has been closed for traffic as has the Banihal tunnel.
Despite the security measures over the last few days, hundreds of BJP youth workers have managed to sneak into Jammu in their bid to march towards Srinagar's Lal Chowk for the flag hoisting. They are staying in community halls and say that their resolve is firm and that nothing can stop them from going ahead for the yatra.
As BJP leaders cry foul saying that their removal from Jammu was "illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic," the Centre has backed the state government's action, with Home Minister P Chidambaram saying in a statement that it would be , "Most unfortunate if the BJP leaders defy the restrictions placed by the State Government or deliberately cause a breach of peace...There is no justification whatsoever to push a political agenda that will certainly affect peace and law and order in the State of Jammu & Kashmir." (Read: Chidambaram statement on BJP yatra)
Chidambaram said the "BJP leaders should respect the orders passed by the State Government."
Monday: Arrests, protests
On Monday, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were forcibly escorted out of Jammu after being arrested at the airport. The two had already spent over five hours under virtual detention at the airport, and then, allegedly on the pretext of taking them to a guest house, the state administration put them in separate cars and escorted them to Madhopur.
Arun Jaitley said, "Section 144 cannot be used to deport anyone from a state...I don't know whether there is any rule of law left in the country. There is no power, no law that says you can physically throw people out of the state. There has to be some power under a law which this government doesn't have. The morcha will proceed ahead. The party will decide to take action. The party will go ahead with the rally," said Jaitley. (Watch)
Ekta Yatra: The story so far
This is the climax of a political drama which pits the BJP and its contentious Ekta Yatra against the government in Jammu and Kashmir, and at the Centre.
The BJP deployed its senior leaders to up the ante ahead of the Jammu rally that was meant to be a major pit stop to energize thousands of youth activists heading from Punjab to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with the one-point agenda to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day.
The separatists have announced a counter-march and the state government says it will not tolerate any move that could strain the fragile peace in the region.
Lal Chowk is where, in 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmir a plebiscite - the basis of separatist discourse.
The BJP says that by hoisting the flag at Lal Chowk, it wants to make the point to separatists that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Repeatedly, the BJP has said that it has instructed its ranks to do nothing that could shatter the peace. Earlier on Monday evening, veteran leader LK Advani formally complained to the Prime Minister about Mr Jaitley and Ms Swaraj being trapped at the airport.
"I talked to the Prime Minister to register protest over the way authorities prevented Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, both Leaders of Opposition in two Houses of Parliament, from entering Jammu and threatened to deport them back to Delhi," Advani told PTI.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said, shortly after 6 pm, that he had phoned Mr. Jaitley and told him that the BJP leader "had made his point" and that he should return to Delhi. The Home Minister also stressed that a public meeting was "not possible." The BJP leaders responded that they should be arrested - but that barring them from entering the city of Jammu was illegal.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister issued a statement which did not name the BJP, but stressed that the Republic Day "is not an occasion to score political points, to embarrass state and local administrations, to create situations that could lead to entirely avoidable problems, or to promote divisive agendas."
As it tries to make its way into J&K, the BJP has run into severe criticism from one of its key allies - Nitish Kumar. "Given the kind of tension prevailing in the valley, this Yatra has no meaning and I don't support this," said the Bihar chief minister. (Read: Nitish slams ally BJP over rally for Kashmir)
All eyes right now are on what happens next at Madhopur in Punjab and then Lakhanpur, from where the BJP workers and leaders plan to enter J&K. Last evening, BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were forcibly escorted out of Jammu airport and sent to Madhopur and BJP workers plan to hold a rally there today before pushing into J&K from Lakhanpur. (Read: Arrested, tweeted Sushma, then deposited in Punjab)
Strict security measures are in place throughout the state. The Omar Abdullah government has sealed the border with Punjab and imposed Section 144 in Lakhanpur. Authorities say the BJP will not be allowed in. The Jammu-Srinagar highway has been closed for traffic as has the Banihal tunnel.
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Despite the security measures over the last few days, hundreds of BJP youth workers have managed to sneak into Jammu in their bid to march towards Srinagar's Lal Chowk for the flag hoisting. They are staying in community halls and say that their resolve is firm and that nothing can stop them from going ahead for the yatra.
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As BJP leaders cry foul saying that their removal from Jammu was "illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic," the Centre has backed the state government's action, with Home Minister P Chidambaram saying in a statement that it would be , "Most unfortunate if the BJP leaders defy the restrictions placed by the State Government or deliberately cause a breach of peace...There is no justification whatsoever to push a political agenda that will certainly affect peace and law and order in the State of Jammu & Kashmir." (Read: Chidambaram statement on BJP yatra)
Chidambaram said the "BJP leaders should respect the orders passed by the State Government."
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Monday: Arrests, protests
On Monday, Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj were forcibly escorted out of Jammu after being arrested at the airport. The two had already spent over five hours under virtual detention at the airport, and then, allegedly on the pretext of taking them to a guest house, the state administration put them in separate cars and escorted them to Madhopur.
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Arun Jaitley said, "Section 144 cannot be used to deport anyone from a state...I don't know whether there is any rule of law left in the country. There is no power, no law that says you can physically throw people out of the state. There has to be some power under a law which this government doesn't have. The morcha will proceed ahead. The party will decide to take action. The party will go ahead with the rally," said Jaitley. (Watch)
Advertisement
Ekta Yatra: The story so far
This is the climax of a political drama which pits the BJP and its contentious Ekta Yatra against the government in Jammu and Kashmir, and at the Centre.
The BJP deployed its senior leaders to up the ante ahead of the Jammu rally that was meant to be a major pit stop to energize thousands of youth activists heading from Punjab to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with the one-point agenda to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Republic Day.
The separatists have announced a counter-march and the state government says it will not tolerate any move that could strain the fragile peace in the region.
Lal Chowk is where, in 1948, Jawaharlal Nehru promised Kashmir a plebiscite - the basis of separatist discourse.
The BJP says that by hoisting the flag at Lal Chowk, it wants to make the point to separatists that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Repeatedly, the BJP has said that it has instructed its ranks to do nothing that could shatter the peace. Earlier on Monday evening, veteran leader LK Advani formally complained to the Prime Minister about Mr Jaitley and Ms Swaraj being trapped at the airport.
"I talked to the Prime Minister to register protest over the way authorities prevented Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, both Leaders of Opposition in two Houses of Parliament, from entering Jammu and threatened to deport them back to Delhi," Advani told PTI.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said, shortly after 6 pm, that he had phoned Mr. Jaitley and told him that the BJP leader "had made his point" and that he should return to Delhi. The Home Minister also stressed that a public meeting was "not possible." The BJP leaders responded that they should be arrested - but that barring them from entering the city of Jammu was illegal.
On Saturday, the Prime Minister issued a statement which did not name the BJP, but stressed that the Republic Day "is not an occasion to score political points, to embarrass state and local administrations, to create situations that could lead to entirely avoidable problems, or to promote divisive agendas."
As it tries to make its way into J&K, the BJP has run into severe criticism from one of its key allies - Nitish Kumar. "Given the kind of tension prevailing in the valley, this Yatra has no meaning and I don't support this," said the Bihar chief minister. (Read: Nitish slams ally BJP over rally for Kashmir)
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