Use | State flag |
---|---|
Proportion | 2:3 |
Adopted | 1952 |
Design | It is a red-and-white flag with a representation of a plough and three constituent regions of the state. |
The State flag of Jammu and Kashmir was a symbol used in the former Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir between 1952 and 2019, under the special status accorded to the region by Article 370 of the Constitution of India. It was a red-and-white flag with a representation of a plough and three constituent regions of the state. After the abolition of Article 370 in August 2019, this flag lost its official status. [1]
Article 144 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, stated that the flag of the state shall be rectangular 3:2 format. Its colour is red, which originally came to symbolise workers and labourers. In the middle, a white plough further symbolises the peasants. Next to the staff, three vertical white stripes represent the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. [2]
The flag had its origin in events that took place on 13 July 1931 in Srinagar. On the day, Kashmiri Muslims were protesting outside the Srinagar Central Jail premises at Srinagar where Abdul Qadeer was arrested on the charge of terrorism and inciting public against the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir by Dogra state forces. [3] [4] The blood-tainted shirt of one of the victims was then hoisted by the crowd as the new flag of Kashmir.[ citation needed ] On 11 July 1939, the older version flag was adopted by the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, a political party. On 7 June 1952, a resolution was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, making it the official state flag.[ citation needed ]
The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, in force until August 2019, made it mandatory to hoist the state flag alongside the Flag of India. [5] In 2015, the newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party members in the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly refused to hoist the state flag in their offices. BJP Ministers did not hoist the state flag either, as they consider that it is of no importance. [5]
The government led by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed then issued a circular making it compulsory to hoist the state flag along with the national flag, stating that "The state flag has the same sanctity and position as the national flag has under the Indian Constitution and other statutory provisions." However, within 20 hours, the state government withdrew this circular. [5] [6] [7] On withdrawal of the circular, the Jammu & Kashmir BJP spokesperson said, ""Our leaders cannot have any other flag on their vehicles besides the Tricolour. We welcome the withdrawal of the circular." [5]
In December 2015, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court ordered the government of the state to hoist the state flag along with the national flag on official buildings and vehicles of constitutional authorities. [8] However, this decision was contested by the Bharatiya Janata Party and in January 2016 Jammu and Kashmir High Court stayed their decision. Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Nirmal Kumar Singh said that no flag could be hoisted at an equal level of the national flag of India. Other parties alleged that the BJP is trying to impose its nationalist agenda on a state with special status. [9] Despite the stance of the BJP, ministers of its coalition partner PDP continue to use the state flag alongside the national flag in official meetings. The youth wing of the National Conference also launched a campaign encouraging people to use the state flag as the profile image on their social media accounts saying that "the state flag of Jammu and Kashmir doesn't undermine or take away the protocol or status of the national flag and is clearly provided for in our constitution." [10]
The flag lost its official status on 6 August 2019 following the removal of the region's special status through the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India [11] and was lowered for the last time on 25 August 2019. [12]
The state of Jammu and Kashmir was dissolved on 31 October 2019 and its territory was divided between two new union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. [13]
Jammu and Kashmir was a region formerly administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019, constituting the southern and southeastern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pakistan and China since the mid-20th century. The underlying region of this state were parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, whose western districts, now known as Azad Kashmir, and northern territories, now known as Gilgit-Baltistan, are administered by Pakistan. The Aksai Chin region in the east, bordering Tibet, has been under Chinese control since 1962.
The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) is a regional political party in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir union territory and Ladakh. Founded as the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference by Sheikh Abdullah and Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas in 1932 in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, the organisation renamed itself to National Conference in 1939 in order to represent all the people of the state. It supported the accession of the princely state to India in 1947. Prior to that, in 1941, a group led by Ghulam Abbas broke off from the National Conference and revived the old Muslim Conference. The revived Muslim Conference supported the accession of the princely state to Pakistan and led the movement for Azad Kashmir.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir twice from November 2002 to November 2005 and from March 2015 until his death on January 7, 2016. He held various positions, including minister of Tourism in Rajiv Gandhi's cabinet and minister of Home Affairs in V. P. Singh's cabinet. Sayeed began his political career in the wing of the National Conference led by G. M. Sadiq, which later merged with the Indian National Congress. In 1987, he transitioned to the Janata Dal and subsequently founded the People's Democratic Party (PDP), a regional political party that remains influential in Jammu and Kashmir, currently led by his daughter, Mehbooba Mufti.
Mehbooba Mufti Sayed (Urdu: محبوبہ مفتی سید) is an Indian politician and leader of the Jammu and Kashmir People's Democratic Party (PDP), who served as the 9th and last chief minister of the erstwhile state Jammu and Kashmir from 4 April 2016 to 19 June 2018. She was the first female chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. After the revocation of Article 370 of the constitution in August 2019, Mufti was detained without any charges at first and later under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act.
Farooq Abdullah is an Indian politician and the current president of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference. He has served as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on several occasions since 1982, and as the union minister for New and Renewable Energy between 2009 and 2014. He is the son of the 1st elected chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah. His son is the current chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a state political party in Jammu and Kashmir, India. The PDP was headed and founded by Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. His daughter, Mehbooba Mufti, succeeded him as party leader and as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir following his death in January 2016. The party is a member of the People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration electoral alliance. The party is also a member of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance since its founding on 18 June 2023.
Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, a region located in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and part of the larger region of Kashmir which has been the subject of a dispute between India, Pakistan and China since 1947. Jammu and Kashmir was administered by India as a state from 17 November 1952 to 31 October 2019, and Article 370 conferred on it the power to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy of internal administration.
Sajad Gani Lone is an Indian politician, and Member of the Legislative Assembly elected from the Handwara constituency. He is the chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference.
Haseeb A Drabu is an Indian politician, economist and the former member of Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly from Rajpora constituency in Pulwama district. He was elected as Finance Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the BJP-PDP coalition government from 2015 to 2018.
Jammu and Kashmir is administered by the Republic of India within the framework of a federal parliamentary republic as a union territory, like the union territory of Puducherry, with a multi-party democratic system of governance. Until 2019, it was governed as a state administered by India. Politics in the region reflects the historical tension and dispute that the state has been a part of in the form of the Kashmir conflict. The head of state is the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, currently Manoj Sinha, while the head of government is the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, currently vacant. Legislative power is vested in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, although this was dissolved by the Governor on 21 November 2018. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
The Government of Jammu and Kashmir is the principal administrative authority responsible for the governance of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. Established after the reorganization of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2019, the government operates under the framework of the Indian constitution. The union territory comprises two divisions—Jammu and Kashmir—with different cultural and geographical characteristics.
Elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India to elect the representatives of various bodies at national, state and district levels including the 114 seat unicameral Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly and the Parliament of India. The first elections in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir took place between 28 November and 19 December 2020 in the form of by-elections to District Development Councils and municipal and panchayat level bodies. A fresh delimitation process for assembly constituencies began in February–March 2020.
The 2014 Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election was held in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in five phases from 25 November – 20 December 2014. Voters elected 87 members to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, which ends its six-year term on 19 January 2020. The results were declared on 23 December 2014. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs were used in 3 assembly seats out of 87 in Jammu Kashmir elections.
Dr Nirmal Kumar Singh is an Indian politician and was the last Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir State. He is a former Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He is a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party. On 1 March 2015, he assumed the charge of the Minister for Power Development and Housing and Urban Development.
St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School, Baramulla
Jammu and Kashmir is a region administered by India as a union territory and consists of the southern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. The Line of Control separates Jammu and Kashmir from the Pakistani-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan in the west and north. It lies to the north of the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab and to the west of Ladakh which is administered by India as a union territory.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 is an act of the parliament of India containing provisions to reconstitute the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Indian-administered union territories (UTs) called Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, and becoming effective on 31 October 2019. A bill for the act was introduced by the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019 and was passed on the same day. It was then passed by the Lok Sabha on 6 August 2019 and it received the president's assent on 9 August 2019.
On 5 August 2019, the government of India revoked the special status, or autonomy, granted under Article 370 of the Indian constitution to Jammu and Kashmir—a region administered by India as a state which consists of the larger part of Kashmir which has been the subject of dispute among India, Pakistan, and China since 1947.
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) is a political alliance between several political parties in Jammu and Kashmir campaigning for autonomy for the region by restoring special status along with Article 35A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Farooq Abdullah is president and Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami is the convener and spokesperson of the pact.
Elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly was held in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir from 18 September to 1 October 2024 in 3 phases to elect its 90 members. The results of the elections were announced on 8 October 2024. The INDIA alliance, consisting of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC), the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), won a majority of seats in the election, winning 49 of the 90 seats for which elections were held, with the JKNC winning the highest number of seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the largest share of the popular vote.