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| Flag row: BJP's first good intervention | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 2: The J&K High Court, Jammu wing, on the first day of the new year took a great stand on the issue of hoisting the state flag on official buildings and official vehicles, including the ministers' official cars. In fact, Division Bench of J&K High Court consisting of Justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice Bansi Lal Bhat stayed the operation of the judgment of the Srinagar-based Single Judge regarding hoisting of state flag on buildings and official vehicles. On December 27 last year, the Single Judge Bench had restored the state government's circular issued in March 2014 that enjoined upon all constitutional authorities to hoist state flags on buildings housing their offices and their official vehicles. The circular issued by the General Administration Department was withdrawn a day after it was issued onMarch 12 reportedly under pressure from the BJP. "Circular No.14-GAD of 2015 dated 13th March 2015 set-aside. Resultantly circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015 gets restored," a bench (Srinagar) of Justice Hasnanin Massodi ordered while allowing a writ petition by a retired forest officer Abdul Qayoom Khan. The Srinagar Bench directed the respondents and all constitutional authorities to adhere to and abide by mandate and spirit of Section 144, Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, J&K Prevention of Insult to State Honour Act, 1979 and Circular No.13-GAD of 2015 dated 12th March 2015. "Such adherence obviously is to include hoisting of State Flag on the buildings housing offices of Constitutional Authorities and on vehicles used by such Authorities," the Bench had said. The stay on the December 27 ruling has come as a big relief to the people of the state who wanted the J&K Government to bring the state at par with all other states of the Union. They also wanted the state government to respect the 1965 constitutional amendment in the J&K Constitution that abolished the offices of Sadar-e-Riyasat and Wazir-e-Azam and established the offices of Governor and Chief Minister and do away with the provision in the J&K Constitution that dealt with the state flag. Now that the Division Bench has issued notice to Chief Secretary to the J&K Government and Abdul Qayoom Khan in this regard and stayed the operation of the December 27 ruling, it is time for the integrationists to rejoice. It is also time for them to appreciate the stand the otherwise unpopular and "undependable" BJP took on the whole issue. Credit must go to the BJP which challenged the December 27 ruling. It was the first ever major step that the BJP took in ten months to appreciate the nationalist feelings of the people of Jammu and Ladakh and many Kashmiri people, who had been struggling since decades to get themselves fully merged with India. What was more important was the fact that it was the BJP national secretary who approached the J&K High Court, Jammu wing, and the J&K BJP chief spokesperson represented him in the High Court. In other words, it was the BJP's official stand. It is hoped that the BJP will revert to its original agenda to assuage the hurt feelings of the nationalists in the state and rest of the country. The BJP has to make many more such important interventions to win back the trust of the alienated nationalists. |
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