75 years after Nehru, Rahul Gandhi unfurls Tricolour at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk

But, notwithstanding the symbolic unfurling of the Tricolour and an iteration of his family’s links with Kashmir, Rahul was noncommittal on restoration of Article 370.

“By hoisting the Tricolour at Lal Chowk, the promise made to India was fulfilled today. Hate will lose, love will always win. There will be a new dawn of hope in India,” Rahul tweeted in Hindi.

Since September 7, he has criss-crossed 12 states and two union territories, covering 4,080 kilometres. While the walk ended Sunday, Rahul is scheduled to address a public rally at the Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium in Srinagar on Monday, where Opposition leaders have been invited.

“Statehood and restoration of democratic process in J&K is fundamental and very important.

That would be a first step. The steps that come after that, I don’t want to comment on here…All other states in India have an assembly, a functioning democratic process…I think it should be restored in J&K as well, and an appropriate solution should be found in Ladakh. Even the Ladakhi people are not happy with what happened,” he said at the press conference.

To a question on the promises made by Jawaharlal Nehru to the people of Kashmir, he said: “I am not happy with what I see in J&K. In fact, I have sadness when I walk through J&K. When I first entered Jammu, a strange idea came into my mind, which was that in some ways my family descended from J&K and went to Allahabad. And in some strange way, I was making the reverse journey that my ancestors made. So, I felt in a way that I was going home, and that was a very powerful feeling I had. I think I have affection towards the people of J&K and I come here with an open heart, with open arms to help in whatever way I can… I don’t want to go into commenting on the historical aspect of it…I want to look forward”.

On Article 370, he reiterated that the resolution of the Congress Working Committee was very clear. At its meeting on August 6, 2019, the CWC had attacked the government on the manner in which Article 370 was abrogated and J&K was divided, but shied away from demanding restoration of Article 370.

When pointed out that the CWC resolution was not clear on whether the Congress would restore Article 370 if voted to power, Rahul said: “My position on 370 and the position taken by the CWC is very clear. I will hand you the document… you can read it. That is what our position is,” he said.

Asked whether the Congress, if voted to power, would restore the state laws which were scrapped after abrogation of Article 370, Rahul turned to Jairam Ramesh who was with him on the dais. “All the land rights and the job rights of the local population will be fully protected,” said Ramesh.

“One of the main issues that has been coming up here is the fact that people’s land is being taken away from them. We have been very clear on that issue. As far as restoration of the democratic structure here, we are very clear. Once the Assembly is in place, the Assembly will take those decisions,” said Rahul.

Rahul also raised the issue of Chinese aggression along the Line of Actual Control. “I think the way to deal with these Chinese is to deal with them firmly and to be very clear that they are sitting on our land and it is not something we are going to tolerate… The Prime Minister of India is the only person in the country who is under the impression that the Chinese have not taken any land from India. I recently met some ex-army people, even a delegation from Ladakh, which clearly said that 2,000 sq kms of our Indian territory have been taken over by Chinese. They also said many patrolling points that used to be in Indian territory are now firmly in Chinese hands,” he said.

He said the government’s approach of “completely denying” that the Chinese have “taken our land” was dangerous, as it would give them the confidence to do even “more aggressive things”.

Responding to a question on his yatra being cold-shouldered by Opposition leaders like TMC leader Mamata Banerjee, Rahul said: “It is true that there are differences among Opposition parties… but the Opposition will together fight this battle of ideologies in which there is the BJP and RSS on one side, and the forces opposing them on the other,” he said.

“The BJP and RSS are attacking the institutional framework of this country. Whether it is Parliament, assemblies, judiciaries, media. All institutions are being attacked and captured by the BJP. What you have seen in different parts of the country and J&K are the result of that assault on the institutional framework,” he said.

On the yatra, Rahul said: “It is a vision, an idea of how India should move forward. It is not just a walk… Personally, it was a very good experience for me. Perhaps, I can say that it is the most beautiful and important experience of my life.”

He said the yatra would impact the country’s politics. “There are two roads before India… two ways of life. One is the vision of oppression and the second is the vision to unite all,” he said. “This yatra has not ended… This is the first step, the beginning,” he said.

On Sunday morning, the Bharat Jodo Yatra started from Panthachowk, on the outskirts of Srinagar city. There was massive security deployment in the city, with police barricading all the roads leading to the yatra route. Party workers complained that many of them could not take part in the yatra due to security restrictions.

While the original plan was that the yatra would stop at Nehru Park, on the banks of the Dal Lake, the march was halted near Gupkar, and Rahul travelled to Lal Chowk in a convoy of vehicles.

Incidentally, Rajni Patil, Congress MP and party in-charge for J&K, had said that Rahul will hoist the national flag at the party headquarters in Srinagar on January 30, saying that unfurling the national flag at Lal Chowk was part of the “RSS agenda”.

Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in charge of communications, said: “Originally, the plan was that we will unfurl the national flag tomorrow, which is the last day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We didn’t get permission for Lal Chowk for January 30… Yesterday after discussions with the state officials, they conceded to our demand, but for January 29… So we changed our programme at the last minute and today Mr Rahul Gandhi has unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk – something that was done for the first time 75 years ago by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru”.

The Congress said the national flag will be unfurled at the party’s Srinagar office, which is also in Lal Chowk, by party president Malikarjum Kharge on Monday.

In 1992, the then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi, accompanied by many of his party colleagues including Narendra Modi, had unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk on Republic Day, amid a curfew and security clampdown. The militants had targeted the flag hoisting ceremony by firing rockets at Lal Chowk, the business nerve centre of Srinagar.