No tricolour at Lal Chowk ! What next?

Riyaz Masroor
On the eerily quiet day of January 26, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), locally called CRP, chose to shun the 20-year-old practice of unfurling Indian tricolour at Srinagar's commerical center, Lal Chowk . Troops have been observing this practice ever since BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi dared to reach Lal Chowk in 1991 and after alighting from an armored military vehicle unfurled the national flag atop the Clock Tower popularly known as Ghanta Ghar, a conspicuous city symbol. In this backdrop, the practice of hoisting tricolor, on national days such as January 26 and August 15, that too barely half a kilometer from Bakhshi Stadium, where the main function is held, reeked of a jingoistic political symbolism.
This business hub, it must be noted, has a political significance. It was here that in 1947 India’s first Prime Minister rubbed shoulders with Kashmir’s popular leader Sheikh Abdullah while promising the right of self-determination to the people of J&K; it was here that in 1975 hundreds of thousands of people received him after he entered into a deal with Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi, then Indian premier; and it was from here in 1994 that the pioneer of Kashmir insurgency, Muhammad Yasin Malik, declared his transition from violence to nonviolence and struggle for democratic rights. In the light of this historical record, Lal Chowk represents political evolution. Murli’s flag-hoisting recipe, actually, wanted to undo this tradition and make Lal Chowk appear as a symbol of military conquest.
Having remained witness to significant political evolutions, this trade hub also bore lot of violence and saw lot of bloodshed. In April 1993 the troops allegedly set ablaze a huge shopping complex following a gunfight with militants. Besides killing of scores of civilians in the crossfire, around 200 shops and five commercial buildings are reported to have gutted in that devastating fire. Inayat Khan of Dalgate is only the latest victim. Following his murder allegedly by CRP sleuths early this month; local traders staged demonstrations seeking removal of CRP men from the ruined Palladium Theater.
The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has announced a Rs 2 Crore plan to revive the "pristine glory" of Lal Chowk. Will that happen while keeping the garison-like image of this historic place intact. The chief minister must get down to first things first: remove CRP from Palladium, demilitarise Ghanta Ghar, put a ban on laying concertina wires on Lal Chowk roads etc..can you do at least this much, Mr. Omar!