The Bharatiya Janata Party’s attempt to make a big issue over the police denying permission to Hindu groups to unfurl national flag at Jinnah Tower in Guntur district was successfully foiled by the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh.
The YSRC government not only got the tower painted with tricolour, but also unfurled the national flag on its premises. State home minister Mekathoti Sucharitya unfurled the tricolour at a simple function at the tower on Thursday.
Several YSRC leaders including MLCs Lella Appi Reddy, Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, MLAs Mustafa, Maddali Giri and Mayor Kavati Manohar Naidu and others attended the event.
The Jinnah Tower was in the news recently after the police thwarted the attempts of the members of a right-wing group from unfurling the national flag at the landmark on January 26, on the occasion of Republic Day.
As the BJP was getting ready for making it a big political issue, the YSRC government and the local municipal authorities took a quick decision and painted the tower with the colours of the flag.
“After request from various groups, we decided to decorate the tower with the tricolour. We will also construct a pole near it for hoisting the national flag,” said Guntur East MLA Mohammed Musthafa.
Musthafa accused the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to provoke communal clashes.
“Muslim elders fought against the English during the freedom struggle. After achieving independence, some Muslims left the country and settled in Pakistan. But, we wanted to continue in our country as Indians and we love our motherland,” the legislator further said.
The BJP leaders still want to gain some political mileage by demanding that the tower be renamed. Y Satya Kumar, the party's national secretary, tweeted: “Painting the Jinnah Tower with tricolour will still not change the colour of your heart, Mr @ysjagan , which unfortunately, is still green with a crescent. Pay heed to people's demand & change the name of Jinnah tower!”
Built in 1945 in the heart of Guntur, the Jinnah Tower, as its nomenclature suggests, is named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who, two years later, founded Pakistan.
The monument was constructed as a tower with six pillars with a dome-shaped structure atop. The location is also sometimes referred to as the Jinnah Centre.