Anantnag: Security personnel and locals during a 'Tiranga Rally' ahead of Independence Day, in Anantnag district, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.
Credit: PTI Photo
A massive 400-metre tricolour was carried by people at a rally in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district as part of the Independence Day celebrations.
The rally was organised under the 'Meri Maati Mera Desh' campaign.
The Tiranga Rally taken out in the Sadiwara village of Verinag in the south Kashmir district saw a massive participation of the people including students. The rally was organised with the help of the army and the police.
Panchayat Sadiwara Sarpanch Farooq Ahmad Ganie led the rally which carried a 400-metre long national flag.
"This Tiranga rally does not belong to a person or an ideology. It is a collective ideology of Sadiwara village," Ganie told PTI.
He said the rally was also a tribute to the sacrifices of the soldiers.
"I think there cannot be a bigger tribute than this for the jawans because of whom we are living freely. We should give the 'title of proud mother' to those mothers whose children sacrificed their lives for the security of the nation."
"We are paying homage to those jawans by holding the tiranga, picking up maati (soil) and lighting up diyas. We salute them," he said.
The sarpanch said he feels proud that many people and ideologies have come together to hold the tricolour and it is a reply to those who had said there will be no one to hold the national flag in Kashmir.
"India lives in the hearts of everyone – old and young, and it will continue to be so. God willing, the country's flag will keep flying always high," he added.