Srinagar: The barbed wires that usually surrounded Lal Chowk’s historic Ghanta Ghar, or the Clock Tower, were removed to make way for the Bharatiya Janata Party members and supporters who flapped the party flags and tricolor.
And there were bikers. It was a BJP-organised ‘Tiranga Rally’ to commemorate the ‘Kargil Vijay Diwas’.
While the partymen expected the union minister Smriti Irani to attend the event in Srinagar, the last-minute hurdles prompted Tarun Chug, the general secretary of the BJP, to flag off the rally.
The Covid-19 restrictions placed in the city recently were tossed as the party leaders took the stage to train the guns at regional political parties, including the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party.
One day prior to the rally, the authorities increased security measures in the summer capital. On Monday morning, all the roads leading to the Ghanta Ghar were sealed in advance, shops, and a private school in the vicinity, remained shut as part of the security arrangements.
“The twin families in Jammu and Kashmir, who ruled here for the past 70 years have made it terrorism capital,” Chug said addressing the event, “but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it tourism and progress capital.”
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