Jammu and Kashmir state flag was removed from the civil secretariat building in Srinagar on Sunday following the abrogation of Article 370 and consequently, Article 35A.
Earlier, under the special status granted by the Article 370, the state had the autonomy to have its own flag and constitution among other privileges.
With the abrogation of special status, the state flag and constitution ceased to be in operation in Jammu and Kashmir. “State flag removed from Civil Secretariat building in Srinagar, only tricolor seen atop the building,” news agency ANI reported on Sunday.
Article 144 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, stated that flag of the state would be in rectangular format and its dimensions would be 3:2. The colour was be red, which originally represented the blood of the martyrs of the July 13, 1931 demonstration, but later symbolised workers and labourers.
#JammuAndKashmir: State flag removed from Civil Secretariat building in SRINAGAR, only tricolor seen atop the building. pic.twitter.com/bwo6bOMNZi
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2019
During a demonstration against the Dogra rulers on July 13, 1991, police opened fire and 21 people were killed. The blood-tainted shirt of one of the victims was then hoisted by the crowd as the new flag of Kashmir. July 13 is also known as Martyrs' Day and is an official holiday in Jammu and Kashmir.
The flag was adopted by the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference on July 11, 1939. Later, on June 7, 1952, a resolution was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, making it the official state flag.
A day after parliament passed the resolution to revoke Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, former deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Singh removed the state flag from his vehicle. With this, he became the first leader to remove the state flag. He said that the abolition of the special status was a dream of BJP ideologue Shyama Prasad Mookerjee.
