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Amid tough security arrangements, India marks its 75th independence day in Kashmir

Monday, 15 August 2022 11:27 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 August 2022 6:22 PM ]

Shahana Butt
Press TV, Indian-administered Kashmir

Kashmir was decorated with Indian flags as India marked its 75th independence day anniversary. Government offices, schools, colleges, official vehicles, roads, and streets in and around Kashmir were decorated with the Indian flag, as part of a government-led nationwide campaign dubbed “tricolor in every home.”

In Srinagar's Sheri Kashmir Stadium, Kashmir's lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, unfurled the Indian tricolor in the presence of government officials.

The administration in Kashmir took stringent security measures to ensure a smooth flag hoisting ceremony. Barbed wires were stretched across roads, guarded by security forces to avoid the breach of security or any militant attacks. Shops and business establishments were closed and traffic remained largely suspended.

But prominent politicians in Kashmir say holding such celebrations in Kashmir only hurts the sentiments of it people and is just rubbing salt in the wound after what they call 'India's illegal move' of scrapping Kashmir's special status on august 5, 2019.

However, members of the Bharatiya Janata Party are hopeful of change.

Soon after the flag hoisting ceremony concluded, security restrictions were eased across the regions. Indian-administered Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since 1947; both countries claim the region in full but rule it in part.

On August 5, 2019, New Delhi abrogated Kashmir's special status and divided it into two parts, calling it integrating the region with the rest of India. Experts say if India wants to win over the hearts of the Kashmiri people, instead of imposing decisions, it must start addressing their concerns.

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