Lal Chowk

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Lal Chowk
Lal Chowk,Srinagar on 15 August, 2021
Lal Chowk,Srinagar on 15 August, 2021
Lal Chowk is located in Jammu and Kashmir
Lal Chowk
Lal Chowk
Coordinates: 34°04′16″N 74°48′38″E / 34.071238°N 74.81063°E / 34.071238; 74.81063Coordinates: 34°04′16″N 74°48′38″E / 34.071238°N 74.81063°E / 34.071238; 74.81063
Union TerritoryJammu and Kashmir
DistrictSrinagar
Named forRussian Revolution
Languages
 • OfficialKashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, Dogri, English[1][2]
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
190001
Lal Chowk pictured in June 2011

Lal Chowk (lit. 'Red Square') is a city square in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.

The square was given its name by left-wing activists who were inspired by the Russian Revolution as they fought the princely state's Maharaja, Hari Singh.[3] It has traditionally served as a place for political meetings, with Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah (the first prime ministers of India and Jammu and Kashmir, respectively) as well as other prominent political leaders having addressed people from it. The clock tower at Lal Chowk was built in 1980.[3]

Clock Tower[]

Clock Tower

The clock tower in the city square was constructed by Bajaj Electricals in 1980.[4][5]

History[]

Sheikh Abdullah addressing a gathering at Lal Chowk in 1975

Lal Chowk was the location where Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, unfurled the Indian national flag in 1948, shortly after the country gained independence from the British Empire.[3] Following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, Nehru stood in Lal Chowk and promised the Kashmiri people a chance to vote in a referendum whereby they would be able to choose their political future. The city square was also the location where Sheikh Abdullah, the first elected Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, expressed his allegiance to Nehru and India in a Persian couplet, saying "Man Tu Shudam, Tu Man Shudi, Taqas Na Goyed, Man Degram Tu Degri (I became you and you became I; so none can say we are separate)".[3]

1990s[]

In 1990 separatists had dared anyone to try and raise the flag of India at Lal Chowk. The National Security Guards took up the challenge and raised the flag.[3] The clock tower gained political significance in 1992, when the then Bharatiya Janata Party president, Murli Manohar Joshi, hoisted the Indian flag on top of the tower on Republic Day.[6][7] Joshi hoisted the flag in the company of Indian troops. Since then, the Indian Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force undertook the hoisting ceremony until 2009, when they announced that continuing the ritual was unnecessary because the tower "had no political significance".[8] Following this, official ceremonies were held at the nearby Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar on Republic Day and Independence Day.

1993 Lal Chowk fire[]

The 1993 Lal Chowk fire refers to the arson attack on the main commercial centre of downtown Srinagar that took place on 10 April 1993. The fire is alleged to have been started by a crowd incited by militants,[9] while civilians and police officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch and other international organizations alleged that the Indian Border Security Force (BSF) set fire to the locality, apparently in retaliation for the burning of an abandoned BSF building by local residents.[10] Over 125 Kashmiri civilians were killed in the incident.[11]

2011 Republic Day[]

In 2011, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announced its plan to start a march called "Ektha Yatra" from Kolkata, West Bengal to Srinagar.[12] The purpose of the march was to "unite Indians" on the Kashmir issue and challenge pro-Pakistan separatists by hoisting the flag of India atop the tower in Lal Chowk on 26 January 2011—India's Republic Day. This move was reportedly intended to serve as a response to Kashmiri insurgents, who had earlier hoisted the flag of Pakistan at the same place.[citation needed] The march was opposed by the Indian National Congress and the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference, who were fearful that it might fuel further unrest in Muslim-majority Kashmir.[13]

Following the announcement by the BJYM, the central government took various countermeasures to stop the planned march.[14] Trains carrying BJYM members to Srinagar were stopped and sent back to their locations of departure. While the majority of BJYM members failed to reach the Kashmir Valley, top BJP leaders, namely Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, continued to lead the march until they were stopped while attempting to enter Jammu & Kashmir from Indian Punjab via a bridge crossing the Ravi River on 25 January 2011.[15] All BJP members in the rally were subsequently arrested and kept in custody in the city of Jammu until the end of formalities on Republic Day.[16]

Indian security forces were instructed to heavily cordon Lal Chowk on Republic Day. However, some BJP activists reached Srinagar and hoisted the Indian flag near the city square, although they failed to reach their intended destination on top of the clock tower.[17]

Sushma Swaraj (BJP), upon her arrest by security forces, stated: "Why are we being arrested? We were marching peacefully. Those who burn the national flag are being provided security while those holding the national flag are being stopped."[18] Arun Jaitley (BJP), stated: "For the first time after independence, hoisting national tricolour has become illegal in our country."[13]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  2. ^ "Parliament passes JK Official Languages Bill, 2020". Rising Kashmir. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Nandal, Randeep Singh (26 January 2011). "All eyes on other R-Day march to Lal Chowk". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  4. ^ Ganai, Naseer (17 January 201). "A 'minor' symbol of nationalism in Srinagar". India Today. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  5. ^ ANI (7 August 2021). "Clock Tower at Srinagar's Lal Chowk illuminated in tricolour". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 August 2021.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  6. ^ For 5 years, he unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk
  7. ^ LAL CHOWK TO LALAN COLLEGE, MODI MOCKS NEW DELHI
  8. ^ Fazili, Ehsan (25 January 2016). "When BJP chief Joshi unfurled national flag at Lal Chowk". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  9. ^ Jagmohan (2006). My FrozenTurbulence in Kashmir (7th Ed.). Allied Publishers. p. 649. ISBN 978-81-7764-995-6. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  10. ^ The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir: Patterns of Impunity. "Human Rights Watch." 1993
  11. ^ Gargan, Edward. Indian Troops Are Blamed As Kashmir Violence Rises. New York Times. 18 April 1993.
  12. ^ Sharma, Naresh Kumar (22 January 2011). "BJP to go ahead with Ekta Yatra in Kashmir". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Abhishek, Kumar (25 January 2011). "BJP Flag Yatra: Swaraj, Jaitley Arrested". Outlook India. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  14. ^ Shankar Kaura, Girja (23 January 2011). "BJP ignores PM's appeal, firm on Tricolour hoisting". The Tribune. Chandigarh, India. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  15. ^ http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/ekta-yatra-standoff-sushma-jaitley-insist-no-turning-back-81438
  16. ^ BJP leaders detained at Jammu airport, sent to Punjab
  17. ^ Omar foils BJP's flag-hoisting plan
  18. ^ Saleem Pandit, TNN, 26 Jan 2011, 07.39am IST (26 January 2011). "BJP's march halted at Ravi bridge". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2011.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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