Mehbooba Flags the 75-Year Difference Between Tricolour Unfurling By Nehru and Rahul

SRINAGAR: A day after warmly greeting Rahul Gandhi while joining the Bharat Jodo Yatra (BJO) along with her daughter and mother, Mehbooba Mufti wrote a series of tweets to show the net difference between Nehru’s tricolour hoisting and Rahul’s unfurling of the national flag. At the conclusion of the BJY, Rahul led a battery of Congress leaders to unfurl the tricolour in historic Lal Chowk amid unprecedented security measures.

Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka and other Congress leaders at Lal Chowk Srinagar where they unfurled the national flag. The flag hoisting concluded the Bharat Jodo Yatra that Congress started from Kanyakumari in September 2022. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur

Unlike the Nehru-presided event soon after accession, Mehbooba said Rahul’s unfurling of the national flag took place under “different circumstances” when Jammu and Kashmir has been turned into a military garrison.

“In 1948 when PM Nehru first unfurled tiranga in Kashmir amongst a sea of people, it was a momentous occasion marked by celebrations. People of J&K had successfully fought off invaders by pushing them back & thus began a new relationship with India based on mutual trust & respect,” Mehbooba wrote in a tweet.

“Nehru’s efforts ensured a Muslim majority J&K acceded to India. He assured Kashmiris & allayed concerns about preserving their identity not only in terms of religion but also culturally within India. This was achieved through constitutional safeguards guaranteed by Article 370,” she said in another tweet.

A November 1947 photograph showing Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of Indian making his first important speech in Lal Chowk. During the course of his speech he said “India will never let down Kashmir and the Indian Army will fight on till the last raider is driven out”.

With this historic background, Mehbooba commented on the unfurling of the tricolour on January 29, 2023, by Rahul, a function she and other like-minded parties n Kashmir skipped.

“Today history stands witness as RG unfurled the same flag albeit under completely different circumstances at a time when J&K has been turned into a military garrison. Assurances given by Indian constitution have been demolished by BJP & is a complete betrayal,” she wrote. “Despite these facts, BJP claims to have resolved the Kashmir issue by the unconstitutional abrogation of Article 370. Not only have they failed to address the issue but also gifted 2000 sq km of our territory to China.”

When Pandit Nehru flew to Srinagar on November 20, 1947, he spoke to a gathering in Lal Chowk. Later, he was taken in a procession to various parts of the Srinagar city. In comparison, Rahul’s function was brief and small and was attended by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party leaders from Jammu and Kashmir. Nehru had unfurled the flag near the Palladium Cinema, a few notches ahead of the Ghanta Ghar, where the tricolour was unruled today.

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