It was at Lal chowk that Jawaharlal Nehru unfurled the national flag in 1948. It was here that he promised Kashmiris a referendum to choose their political future. It was in Lal Chowk that Sheikh Abdullah announced his love for Jawaharlal Nehru and India in a Persian couplet saying "Man Tu Shudam, Tu Man Shudi, Taqas Na Goyed, Man Degram Tu Degri ".
Lal Chowk fire
The 1993 Lal Chowk fire refers to the arson attack on the main commercial center of downtown Srinagar, Kashmir that took place on 10 April 1993. The fire is alleged to have been started by a crowd incited by militants, while civilians and police officials interviewed by Human Rights Watch and other organisations allege that the Indian Border Security Forces set fire to the locality, apparently in retaliation for the burning of an abandoned BSF building by local residents. Over 125 civilians were killed in the conflagration.
built the Clock tower in 1980. The Clock Tower gained political significance in 1992 when the then Bharatiya Janata Party president Murli Manohar Joshi came to hoist the Tricolour atop the tower on Republic Day. Joshi's move brought several militant groups together, uniting them with India. Joshi had hoisted the flag in the company of Indian soldiers. Since then, the BSF and the CRPF undertook the hoisting ceremony until 2009 when they announced it was unnecessary to continue the ritual because the tower "had no political significance" and an official function was held at the nearby Bakshi Stadium on Republic day and Independence day anyway.
2011 Republic Day Controversy
The BJP youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, announced its plan to start a march called "Ektha Yatra", from Kolkata, West Bengal to Srinagar, to unite Indians in "Kashmir Issue" & show Pak separatists that the Kashmir is an integral part of India, by hoisting the Tricolour in Lal Chowk on Republic Day 26 January 2011 as a challenge to Pakistani separatists, who hoisted Pakistani flag in the same place. But ruling party at center, Congress & state ruling party, National Conference didn't want it. They think it may create unrest in the Kashmir valley. This created the controversy. Center & state ruling Govts took various steps to stop hoisting of tricolour. Trains carrying BJPYM members to Srinagar were stopped & sent back at the beginning of their journey. So many BJP members failed to reach Srinagar. But still top leaders of BJP, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley & many others led the march until they were stopped while entering Jammu & Kashmir from Punjab through the bridge of River Ravi on 25 January. Later all the members in the rally were arrested and were kept in custody in Jammu until evening of next day. Security personnel were asked to heavily cordon the Lal Chowk area on Republic day. But some BJP workers reached Srinagar and hoisted flag near it but not exactly on the tower in Lal-Chowk. Murli Manohar Joshi had unfurled the national flag at Lal Chowk, Srinagar on 26 January 1992.
Arguments of various political figures
Jammu and Kashmir government says "it would disrupt peace". Sushma Swaraj of BJP asks "Why are we being arrested? We were marching peacefully. Those who burn the national flag are being provided security while those holding the national flag are being stopped," Arun Jaitley of BJP said "For the first time after independence, hoisting national tricolour has become illegal in our country".
