New Delhi, Jan 21: The Centre today rallied behind the Jammu and Kashmir government in its decision to stop BJP’s ‘Ekta Yatra’ to Srinagar as it apprehends that the march may disturb the situation in the state.
A highly placed government source said the Centre was fully behind the state government’s decision not to allow the BJP to hoist the tricolour in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk area on Republic Day as it may lead to sudden law and order situation in the Kashmir valley, which is currently witnessing relative peace.
“We will stop the BJP’s yatra,” the source said without elaborating. However, it was not clear whether the ‘Ekta Yatra’ will be stopped at Lakhanpur, the major entry point to Jammu and Kashmir, or Jawahar tunnel, the entry point to Kashmir valley.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah last evening, decided not to allow any march towards Lal Chowk on January 26.
The BJP’s ‘Rashtriya Ekta Yatra’ from Kolkata will culminate in Srinagar on January 26 with hoisting of the tricolour in Lal Chowk.
Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Yasin Malik too had called a ‘Lal Chowk march’ on January 26 in a bid to foil the BJP ‘Yatra’.
Omar had already asked the BJP not to do anything to precipitate the situation in the state through its proposed ‘Ekta Yatra’ and made it clear that an appropriate decision would be taken on how to deal with it.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 Jan 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:00:00 IST