New Delhi: Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Tuesday asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to respect the orders of the Jammu and Kashmir government and call off their planned flag hoisting in Srinagar.
"The order of the Jammu and Kashmir government should be respected," Chidambaram said in a statement, adding that there was no justification for any step that would disturb peace in the state.
He said it would be unfortunate if the BJP leaders defied the restrictions by the state government.
The BJP has planned a 'tiranga yatra' on Republic Day on Wednesday to hoist the national flag in Srinagar's city centre Lal Chowk.
Three senior leaders - Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar - were taken into police custody in Jammu Monday night to thwart their plans and taken to Madhopur in Punjab where they were freed.