Unlike BJP’s 1992 ekta yatra, when panic had gripped the valley, unprecedented rush was witnessed at the weekly market at ground zero on Sunday.
It is business as usual at the historic Lal Chowk, the new political battleground.
Unlike BJP’s 1992 ekta yatra, when panic had gripped the valley, unprecedented rush was witnessed at the weekly market at ground zero on Sunday.
For 55-year-old hosiery vendor Mohammad Yasin, sluggish business and price rise are the biggest everyday monsters.
Yasin, who has been putting up his stall in the Sunday market for almost four years, is hardly bothered about the political rhetoric about the flag-hoisting.
“In the past two months, market has slowed down and that is my concern. Flag-hoisting is not a big deal. It is politics, nothing else,” he said.
Republic Day in Kashmir means more checks, searches and frisking. Roads leading to Lal Chowk and Bakshi Stadium, the main venue of the parade, are dotted with men in uniform.
But people came in thousands to the market amid tight security arrangements.
“What is the big deal in hoisting a flag at the clock tower? Will BJP explain why they are trying to vitiate the atmosphere when everywhere in Kashmir the tricolour is unfurled by the government and security agencies? Why are they not hoisting flags in other states of India, why single out Kashmir?” Mohammad Maqbool, who sells blankets in the market, said.
Lal Chowk, which symbolises the political awakening of Kashmir, is fighting back.
The clock tower, which was extensively damaged when Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq led an impromptu march to Lal Chowk on Eid-ul-Fitr, is getting a facelift. The grills, which were uprooted by people who climbed the tower and unfurled a green flag, are now being replaced by iron girdles.
“For the past one month we have been working on this tower. We are replacing the cemented grills by iron ones. It will be ready in a couple of days. BJP’s flag-hoisting is just a political stunt and it has hardly affected our work,” Muzaffar Ahmad, one of the workers, said.
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