The administrative order circulating in Anantnag directing government employees to participate in a “Tiranga Rally” is not an isolated instance. It is symptomatic of a style of governance that has increasingly come to define Jammu and Kashmir since the Government of India took direct control of the region following the illegal abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

What is most striking about the order is not the national flag itself, but its coercive tone. When participation in a government-sponsored event becomes an administrative obligation, are we witnessing genuine public enthusiasm or merely another carefully choreographed display of “normalcy”?Since 2019, Kashmiris have lived under an extraordinary degree of security and administrative suppression. Raids and investigations by multiple agencies have become a recurring feature of life in the Valley. Government employees have been dismissed over alleged links with militancy or militant sympathisers, leaving families devastated. Thousands have been detained in the aftermath of militant incidents, at times under broad allegations of being “overground workers”. Educational and charitable institutions have faced closure or restrictions over alleged links with banned organisations, while........

© Greater Kashmir