Senior BJP leaders, including Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Leaders of the Opposition in the LS and RS respectively, on Tuesday courted arrest after entering Jammu and Kashmir through the Madhopur-Lakhanpur bridge from Punjab. They were arrested, along with party workers, for violating prohibitory orders imposed in the wake of the BJP’s Rashtriya Ekta Yatra taken out for hoisting of the tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Republic Day.
Both the leaders claimed their supporters would continue to make efforts to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk during Republic Day on Wednesday. The Jammu and Kashmir government ordered the closure of all educational institutions in Jammu and Kathua districts and imposed Section 144 CrPC, prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons, as a precautionary measure.
In New Delhi, Union home minister P. Chidambaram urged Mr Jaitley and Ms Swaraj to give up the “path of confrontation” and not push any “political agenda” that might affect peace in Jammu and Kashmir. “The BJP leaders should respect the orders passed by the state government. It would be most unfortunate if the BJP leaders defy the restrictions placed by the state government or deliberately cause a breach of the peace. There is no justification whatsoever to push a political agenda that will certainly affect peace and law and order in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
The BJP’s Ekta Yatra also drew flask from the Centre’s top Kashmir interlocutor, Mr Dileep Padgaonkar. He said: “I think the way out is for the entire political class to once again appeal to the BJP leadership not to precipitate matters.” Mr Padgaonkar accused the BJP of resorting to its “tactics” and suggested it go along with the rest of the political class to show solidarity with the people of the strife-torn state.
Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement, Mr Chidambaram said: “I would request the two Leaders of the Opposition (in Parliament) and their colleagues to give up the path of confrontation, return to Delhi and join the celebrations in Delhi on Republic Day,” he said. Mr Padgaonkar also said the “essential thing now is to win hearts and minds, and my fear is that this particular unilateral gesture is not going to do that.”
The two senior BJP leaders, along with party general secretary Ananth Kumar and youth wing chief Anurag Thakur, leading the Ekta Yatra, were taken to a guesthouse in Kathua by the state administration. As the drama continued, Ms Swaraj continued to “tweet”, giving live updates of their march to Srinagar. “About to reach the other side”; “Crossed the bridge”; “Its a no signal area”, she tweeted.
Before courting arrest, the BJP leaders addressed a massive gathering of party workers and supporters who had come from across the country. The rally was organised at the place where BJP ideologue S.P. Mookherjee had sat on an agitation against the permit system in 1953.
Addressing the rally, Mr Jaitley termed as a “historic blunder” the J&K government’s decision not to allow the BJP to hoist the flag at Lal Chowk. He criticised Jawaharlal Nehru for his “myopic vision” for giving a special status to the state. Mr Jaitley charged both the state and Central governments for “psychologically surrendering” before the separatists, who are also against the yatra. He said if any BJP leader hoists the national flag at Lal Chowk on Republic Day, it would be “a tight slap” on both the Centre and the state government. Ms Swaraj, courting arrest, asked: “What can be more unfortunate than people burning the national flag being provided security, while those holding the national flag are being stopped.”
At the rally site, saffron activists shouted slogans and waved national party flags. In the wake of the rally, the J&K government made strong security arrangements. Jammu was virtually blanketed by securitymen and converted into a fortress. Over 7,000 security personnel were deployed at the J&K-Punjab border terminal to prevent the BJP rally from entering the state. Two women’s platoons were also deployed in view of largescale presence of women activists.
Heavy security deployment was seen at Jammu railway station and all prominent locations throughout the city. The state government had deployed forces on the Punjab border at Lakhanpur. The main highway connecting the state — the Lakhanpur and Madhopur stretches — remained closed to traffic. Heavy deployment of security forces along with barricades could be seen every few kilometres. There was thorough checking of vehicles.
On the Madhopur-Lakhanpur bridge, massive police contingents were stationed at both sides. As the yatra started moving towards the Jammu side on the bridge, slogan-shouting supporters were seen leading the rath from which senior leaders were addressing the gathering. At Jammu airport, three BJP MLAs — Jugal Kishore, Gharu Ram and Sham Chaudhry — and a party leader from Udhampur, Pawan Khajuria, were stopped on Tuesday.