Several Shiv Sena Dogra Front (SSDF) activists on Saturday took to streets in Jammu staging a protest against former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti's remark that she will only raise the Indian tricolour after the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is brought back.
The protestors, who were assembled at Rani Park in Jammu, were holding the Indian flags in their hands, raising slogans against the former chief minister and setting her pictures ablaze. Slogans of "Jhanda Uncha Rahe Hamara" were also raised during the protest.
"Whoever opposes the tricolour will not live in this country. They will have to go to Pakistan. This flag is our honour and a sign of our respect to the martyrs. Those who oppose the tricolour should be sent to either Pakistan or China," SSDF president Ashok Gupta told reporters.
Gupta also accused Mufti of trying to create enmity between Hindu and Muslims in the Union Territory. "Hindus and Muslims together hold up the Indian national flag," he said. Mufti, the chief of People's Democratic Party (PDP), had in a press conference yesterday said that she will raise the Indian tricolour when the "flag of Jammu and Kashmir" is brought back.
On the other hand, the Jammu and Kashmir BJP has demanded the arrest of Mehbooba Mufti over the controversial 'tricolour' remark. BJP President of Jammu and Kashmir Ravindra Raina said, "I request Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to take cognizance of the seditious remarks of Mehbooba Mufti and prosecute her for treason and put her behind bars."
"We will sacrifice every drop of our blood for our flag, country and motherland. Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of our country, so only one flag can be hoisted there and that is the national flag," added Ravindra Raina.
Earlier, on Friday the PDP chief held her first press conference in Srinagar after being released from a 14-month long detention. While speaking to the media, Mufti insisted on the constitutional changes enforced in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year to be rolled back. She also vowed not to hold the national tricolour and contest elections until and unless the decision was taken back by the central government.
In what can be called as an act of defiance, the flag of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir was prominently placed on a table in front of the PDP president, along with that of her party, during the press conference in Srinagar.
