Bangalore, January 25: BJP today demanded “unconditional apology” from the UPA government for its attempts to stop the ‘Tiranga yatra’ and termed its actions as “atrocious, heinous and undemocratic”.
Senior party leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the yatra would continue, adding, some BJP workers have already reached Jammu and others are trying to be there.
On stopping Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar in Jammu yesterday, Naidu termed it as “atrocious, unconstitutional and anti-national on the part of Government of India and the (Jammu and) Kashmir government to stop the people from hoisting the national flag”.
“Is it a sin to hoist a national flag on a place which is not even disputed and which is part of India?” he asked.
“Instead of stopping the separatists, Pakistani agents, ISI agents and terrorists, the Government of India has chosen to stop the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and also patriotic youngsters who want to take up the challenge of separatists and hoist a national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar,” Naidu said.
He said the UPA should unconditionally apologize to the nation for the “heinous thing they have committed by stopping the yatra and arresting the leaders”.
Naidu said the Central Government is indulging in “undemocratic acts”, pointing to stopping of trains in different parts of the country carrying people going for flag-hoisting in Srinagar.
“Is Kashmir a prohibited area ?”, he asked. “I want to ask what kind of signals you are sending? You are sending wrong signals and your actions will embolden separatists,” he said.
Naidu said some six-seven months ago, “They (the separatists) were waving Pakistani flags. If you (UPA government) have guts, you should take action against them. You should put Yasin Malik (Hurriyat leader) under arrest, in jail.”
“And you want to arrest the nationalist leaders and opposition leaders? Government will pay a heavy price for this, and they will face the wrath of the people,” he added.
–PTI