‘State flag order had CM’s approval; was withdrawn under BJP’s pressure’

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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Jammu, March 18: The controversial Circular No: 13 dated March 12, 2015, directing all the Constitutional authorities to hoist the State flag alongside the National flag on their offices and vehicles had been issued with the “written approval on file” of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed who is competent authority as Minister incharge General Administration Department, top ranking bureaucratic sources said.

According to the highly placed government sources, Commissioner-Secretary GAD Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari obtained CM’s approval on March 11^th and the Circular was subsequently issued on March 12^th. This has been properly communicated to Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh who had publicly lamented that some government officials were “destabilising the PDP-BJP government” and called for a thorough inquiry and “strict action against the guilty”.

Sources claiming to be in possession of “documentary evidence” to establish that the Minister incharge GAD [CM] had accorded approval to the official draft, also vetted by the Chief Secretary, asserted that no government official or bureaucrat could dare to issue such a sensitive circular which had serious political implications. “It was withdrawn when BJP exerted considerable amount of pressure and contended that it could cause further embarrassment to the party which had had been already cornered by several quarters over the separatist hardliner Masarat Alam’s release”, said a source. “Rest assured there will be no administrative action against anybody. It was simply to oblige the coalition partner”.

“All the Constitutional Authorities are enjoined upon to maintain the sanctity of the State Flag, at all costs, as is being done in respect of the Union Flag. The Flag shall always be hoisted 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 the Jammu and Kashmir Prevention of Insult to State Honors Act, 1979”, the Circular had said with references to the J&K Constitution and the Delhi Agreement of 1952.

However, it was dramatically withdrawn within 24 hours on March 13 with an official release which claimed that “the draft of the circular was not approved by the Competent Authority before issue of the same on 12^th March, 2015 and as such stands withdrawn with immediate effect. Appropriate administrative action will be taken after enquiry into the circumstances leading to the issuing of this circular”.

In the last one week, there has been significantly neither an inquiry nor any action against the guilty. The “competent authority” has not rectified the lacuna by according necessary approval to the draft of the circular and no fresh notification has been issued to protect the sanctity of the State Flag.

The GAD officials refused to say anything on record but asserted that the “documentary evidence” of the competent authority’s approval to the draft of the March 12^th Circular would be made public if the government contradicted their claim.

END