Patna, Jan. 30: The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) today demanded an answer from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the alleged insult of the national flag by Jammu and Kashmir police personnel.

“The Jammu and Kashmir police not only snatched the Tricolour from the hands of BYJM leaders and workers who had reached Lal Chowk in Srinagar on the occasion of Republic Day to hoist the national flag as part of the Rashtriya Ekta Yatra but they also tried to tear it. It is a very serious offence. The PM owes an answer to the people of the country on the issue,” BYJM national general secretary Nitin Navin told journalists today.

Navin said the Jammu and Kashmir government had imposed Section 144 near Lal Chowk to thwart the BYJM supporters’ bid to hoist the national flag there. Still some BYJM workers reached the spot on Republic Day and they were subjected to third degree by the police.

“We will not only seek explanation from the central and the Jammu and Kashmir governments but also move the court on the issue,” Navin said, adding that violation of Section 144 only attracts arrest and not the use of third degree as was done by the Jammu and Kashmir police.

The BJYM general secretary, who is also a member of Bihar Legislative Assembly, said the highhandedness of the police could be assessed from the fracture in the legs of three BJYM office-bearers.

Navin said the leader of Srinagar unit of BJYM Mahila Morcha Sheikh Hasina has been admitted to a hospital in a serious condition. “Hasina was arrested on January 25. Two days later, she was found at a deserted place with 15 per cent burn injuries. Her hair was trimmed, too,” Navin said.

Terming the BJYM programme a huge success, Navin said the BJYM would move both the National Human Rights Commission and the court to seek justice for her, he said. On the BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha’s reported statement questioning the timing of the yatra, Nitin said: “It might be his personal view.”