Will not allow BJP to hoist flag on R-Day: JK govt

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday decided not to allow the Bharatiya Janata Party to hoist the tricolour in Srinagar on Republic Day. The state administration also decided against allowing a march called by separatists on the same day.

The state government officially announced on Thursday evening that 'it will not allow any event that has the potential of vitiating peace'.

Reportage: Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

Despite repeated appeals by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Centre's interlocutors for Kashmir, the BJP has made it clear that it will go ahead with the yatra.

This has now forced the state government to take a tough stand and declare its intention of stopping the yatra at the state's border.

Meanwhile, pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik has given a call for a march to city centre Lal Chowk, which was supported by the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq.

"In a high-level meeting chaired by Omar Abdullah, it was decided that no programme which has the potential of vitiating the peaceful atmosphere in the state will be allowed," an official statement issued on Thursday evening said.

"The state government has directed the civil and police authorities to ensure that all measures are taken to ensure that the law and order situation in the state is not disturbed in the run-up to the Republic Day celebrations," said the statement.

The BJP had earlier hoisted the national flag at the same venue in 1992, when militancy in Kashmir was at its peak.