A fresh circular issued by Mufti Mohd Sayeed-led alliance Government in Jammu & Kashmir on Thursday directed all the Constitutional authorities to maintain the sanctity of the State Flag, at all costs, as is being done in respect of the Union Flag.
The circular issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) of the State Government stated, "as per the Constitution of J&K and the Delhi Agreement of 1952 and keeping in view the historical background, the State Flag has the same sanctity and position as the Union Flag has under the Indian Constitution and other statutory provisions. Therefore, the sanctity and position has to be maintained at all costs".
The said circular may trigger another round of war of words between the alliance partners Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the State.
Since the BJP has been passionately chanting slogan of 'Ek Pradhan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Nishan' (One PM, One Constitution and One Flag) it may hesitate to stand shoulder to shoulder with the PDP over the matter. Since the State of Jammu & Kashmir enjoys special status under the Indian Constitution it is permitted to fly its own State flag due to its separate Constitution.
J&K started drafting its own Constitution by setting up the Constituent Assembly on May 1, 1951. It completed the exercise and was dissolved on January 25, 1957. But the Constitution was enacted by the Assembly on November 17, 1956. The State started celebrating the Republic Day with the rest of the country only when Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad started hoisting the Tricolour on January 26.
At present, the State Flag is hoisted atop Civil Secretariat complex in both the capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar and is also used on the official cars of Council of Ministers. There are some Constitutional authorities in the State who do not use State Flag on their cars neither hoist it atop their offices. The State flag is not unfurled along with the Union Flag on August 15 and January 26.
Interestingly the circular issued by the GAD maintains, "It's non-hoisting along with the Union Flag amounts to insult to the Flag as per the provisions of the J&K Prevention of Insult to State Honours Act 1979".
As per the circular "the Flag shall always be hosted jointly on the buildings housing Constitutional Institutions and shall be used on the official cars of Constitutional authorities." "Any deviation in this regard shall amount to insult to the Jammu & Kashmir Prevention of Insult to State Honours Act, 1979," the circular added.