Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday accused the Jammu and Kashmir administration of “forcing” people to buy the national flag for the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign while asserting that patriotism comes naturally and cannot be imposed.
The campaign has been launched to encourage the citizens to hoist the national flag in their homes from August 13 to 15 as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
In a purported video shared by Mufti on Twitter, a public announcement is being made from a loudspeaker fixed atop a vehicle of the Bijbehara municipality in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district asking shopkeepers in the area to deposit Rs 20 each for buying a tricolour for the campaign.
“The manner in which J&K admin is forcing students, shopkeepers & employees to pay for national flag to hoist it is as if Kashmir is an enemy territory that needs to be captured. Patriotism comes naturally and cannot be imposed,” Mufti said.
In the announcement in Kashmiri, the locals were told that “action can be taken against them” if they refuse to join the campaign.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader, M Y Tarigami also shared the video on his twitter handle questiong that if Har Ghar Tiranga was a voluntary initiative, why such announcements are being made.
“Div Com, Kashmir has said that #HarGharTiranga is a voluntary initiative. But, on the other hand, local administration makes announcements on loudhailers asking traders to deposit Rs 20 to buy Tiranga, and non-compliance may result in action. Whose writ runs, I wonder?,” Tarigami tweeted.
