Lal Chowk () is a city square in

Srinagar Srinagar (English: , ) is the largest city and the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies in the Kashmir Valley on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus, and Dal and Anchar lakes. The city is known for its ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Kashmir, the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The square was given its name by

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

activists who were inspired by the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

as they fought the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, a ...

, Hari Singh. It has traditionally served as a place for political meetings, with

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India du ...

and Sheikh Abdullah (the first prime ministers of India and

, respectively) as well as other prominent political leaders having addressed people from it. The clock tower at Lal Chowk was built in 1980.

Description

The Lal Chowk precinct stretches on both the sides of the Residency Road between the Amira Kadal bridge and the Tyndale Biscoe School. It has evolved into Srinagar's main business district from early twentieth century. The Lal Chowk itself is a traffic roundabout towards its eastern end. It houses a clock tower (''ganta ghar'') constructed by Bajaj Electricals in 1980.

History

Lal Chowk was the location where

, the first

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

, unfurled the

Indian national flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

in 1948, shortly after the country gained independence from the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

. Following the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947–1948, Nehru stood in Lal Chowk and promised the

Kashmiri people Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language, living mostly, but not exclusively, in the Kashmir Valley of Jammu and Kashmir, India.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern ...

a chance to vote in a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...

whereby they would be able to choose their political future. The city square was also the location where Sheikh Abdullah, the first elected

Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir The Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir was the title given to the head of government of Jammu and Kashmir. As per the Constitution of India, the Lieutenant Governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests w ...

, expressed his allegiance to Nehru and India in a Persian couplet, saying "''Man Tu Shudam, Tu Man Shudi, Taqas Na Goyed, Man Degram Tu Degri'' (I became you and you became I; so none can say we are separate)".

1990s

In 1990 separatists had dared anyone to try and raise the flag of India at Lal Chowk. The National Security Guards took up the challenge and raised the flag. The clock tower gained political significance in 1992, when the then

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

president,

Murli Manohar Joshi Murli Manohar Joshi (born 5 January 1934) is an Indian politician. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of which he was the President between 1991 and 1993, and the former Member of parliament (India), Member of Parliament for ...

, hoisted the

Indian flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present for ...

on top of the tower on Republic Day. Joshi hoisted the flag in the company of Indian troops. Since then, the Indian

Border Security Force The Border Security Force (BSF) is India's border guarding organisation on its border with Pakistan and Bangladesh. It is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) of India, and was raised in the wake of the 1965 war on 1 December 1 ...

and Central Reserve Police Force undertook the hoisting ceremony until 2009, when they announced that continuing the ritual was unnecessary because the tower "had no political significance". Following this, official ceremonies were held at the nearby

Bakshi Stadium Bakshi Stadium is a stadium in Wazir Bagh, Srinagar, Kashmir. It is a stadium with a capacity for 45,000 people and is mainly used for football matches. The stadium is able to host the highest-standard matches, including some of Real Kashmir F ...

in Wazir Bagh

on Republic Day and Independence Day.

1993 Lal Chowk fire

In 1993, there was an arson attack on the main commercial centre of downtown Srinagar. The fire iwas alleged to have been started by a crowd incited by separatist militants. The civilians and police officials interviewed by

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

and other international organizations alleged that the Indian

(BSF) set fire to the locality, apparently in retaliation to the burning of an abandoned BSF building by local residents.The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir: Patterns of Impunity
"

." 1993 Over 125 Kashmiri civilians were killed in the incident.Gargan, Edward.
Indian Troops Are Blamed As Kashmir Violence Rises
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

.'' 18 April 1993.

2011 Republic Day

In 2011, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), youth wing of the

(BJP), announced its plan to start a march called ''"Ektha Yatra"'' from

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. The purpose of the march was to "unite Indians" on the Kashmir issue and challenge pro-Pakistan separatists by hoisting the

flag of India The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present fo ...

atop the tower in Lal Chowk on 26 January 2011—India's Republic Day. This move was reportedly intended to serve as a response to Kashmiri insurgents, who had earlier hoisted the flag of Pakistan at the same place. The march was opposed by the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

and the

Jammu and Kashmir National Conference The Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in the Indian union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. Founded as the ''All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference'' by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam ...

, who were fearful that it might fuel further unrest in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Following the announcement by the BJYM, the central government took various countermeasures to stop the planned march. Trains carrying BJYM members to Srinagar were stopped and sent back to their locations of departure. While the majority of BJYM members failed to reach the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the ''Vale of Kashmir'', is an intermontane valley concentrated in the Kashmir Division of the Indian- union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The valley is bounded on the southwest by the Pir Panjal Range and ...

, top BJP leaders, namely Sushma Swaraj and

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jai ...

, continued to lead the march until they were stopped while attempting to enter Jammu & Kashmir from Indian Punjab via a bridge crossing the

Ravi River The Ravi River () is a transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan. It is one of five rivers associated with the Punjab region. Under the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960, the waters of the Ravi and two other rivers were ...

on 25 January 2011. All BJP members in the rally were subsequently arrested and kept in custody in the city of

Jammu Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi, the city of Jammu, with an area of ...

until the end of formalities on Republic Day. Indian security forces were instructed to heavily cordon Lal Chowk on Republic Day. However, some BJP activists reached Srinagar and hoisted the Indian flag near the city square, although they failed to reach their intended destination on top of the clock tower. Sushma Swaraj, upon her arrest by security forces, said: "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 said: "For the first time after independence, hoisting national tricolour has become illegal in our country."

Notes

References

{{Jammu and Kashmir, state=collapsed Srinagar Buildings and structures in Jammu and Kashmir Tourist attractions in Srinagar Neighbourhoods in Srinagar Cities and towns in Srinagar district