Srinagar's Clock Tower: Eyewitness to political history, bloodshed in Kashmir

The Clock Tower is witness to Jammu and Kashmir’s wretched political history since 1947 and is also a witness to a lot of bloodshed and violence for the past 32 years

Three decades ago all eyes were set on the Clock Tower at the historic Lal Chowk here, when the then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi alongwith a handful of activists unfurled the Tricolour on the occasion of Republic Day in 1992.

Reportedly several explosions were carried out by the militants then, who were present in almost every street and mohalla of Srinagar and Kashmir. The BJP’s attempt to unfurl the Tricolour at the Clock Tower was a psychological war against militants to take control of the historic Lal Chowk.

The Clock Tower is an eyewitness to Jammu and Kashmir’s wretched political history since 1947 and is also a witness to a lot of bloodshed and violence for the past 32 years. It was the location where Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, not only unfurled the Tricolor in 1948, but also promised a referendum to the people of J&K to choose their political future.

Read | BJP holds Tiranga rally at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk

Later on many politicians made fiery and passionate speeches at the Clock Tower, some hoisted flags of either India or Pakistan to make a political statement. However, since the insurgency broke out in 1990, Lal Chowk became a sort of psychological battlefield between separatists and the government.

During the summer unrests of 2008 and 2010, separatists would frequently call for a march towards Lal Chowk. On some occasions separatists even succeeded in unfurling the Pakistani flag on Clock Tower while a number of times, police and security forces had to barricade the area to stop people marching towards Lal Chowk.

During the peak of insurgency militants would often attack security forces with guns and grenades in and around Lal Chowk and most of the times civilians would lose their lives in cross-firing.

Prior to Republic Day in 2011, the Clock Tower again became the centre of focus when the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha planned “Rashtriya Ekta Yatra” to unfurl the Tricolor there. However, the police detained senior BJP leaders late Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, along with others and didn’t allow them to reach Lal Chowk to unfurl the Tricolor.

On the same day, several separatist leaders, including JKLF chief Yasin Malik, who had warned that they would take on the BJP with a march of their own to Lal Chowk, were arrested in Srinagar.

Late Jaitley had then termed the stopping of flag hosting yatra as “psychological and ideological surrender” of the Centre and State governments before “Kashmiri separatists”.

However, on Monday when the BJP held the first-ever Tiranga bikers rally at the once separatist strong-hold of Lal Chowk, ‘Azadi’ slogans of a different kind reverberated at the city centre. The BJP leaders raised slogans of ‘Azad Hindustan Zindabad’, ‘Akhand Bharat Zindabad’, and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ among others.

Neha Joshi, national vice president, BJYM, Delhi, said she is proud to be a part of the historic event. “This yatra has been organised by the youth of Kashmir. We have come here to become a witness of this historic event and take this message to the different corners of the country,” she added.