Under BJP pressure, J&K withdraws flag order

Within 20 hours of issuing a circular urging all constitutional authorities to hoist the State flag of Jammu and Kashmir alongside the National Flag as is stated by the State’s constitution, the government withdrew the order on Friday.

According to government sources, the first circular was sent out in response to the BJP’s refusal to hoist the State flag in their offices and on vehicles and that it was because of the pressure from the BJP that the Mufti Mohammed Syed-led government has withdrawn the order. “The draft of the circular was not approved by the Competent Authority before the issue of the same on 12th March, 2015 and as such stands withdrawn with immediate effect. Appropriate administrative action will be taken after enquiry into the circumstances leading to the issuing of this circular,” a government spokesperson said.

Among the special provisions held by the J&K within the Indian Union is that the State has its own flag, which the J&K Constitution makes it mandatory to hoist alongside the Union flag at all times.

The BJP has always refused to accept the State’s flag as having any importance, and now with the party in power in the State for the first time, BJP Ministers have not hoisted the State flag.

“We have always believed in one flag for Bharat and no other flags beside it. Our great leader, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, died for that fight to weed out all other flags that try to assert themselves in Bharat,” a senior BJP official told The Hindu.

“Our leaders cannot have any other flag on their vehicles besides the Tricolour. We welcome the withdrawal of the circular.”