On the eve of the 77th Independence Day, the Salal Dam in the Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir was illuminated in the colors of the national flag.
Several other iconic landmarks and buildings were lit up in the hues of the tricolor as the nation throbbed with nationalistic fervor ahead of Independence Day.

Meanwhile, shots of jubilant Kashmiris waving the national flag and of the tricolor flying mighty and proud at the iconic Ghanta Ghar in the heart of Srinagar’s Lal Chowk on Tuesday served to disprove former chief minister and People Democratic Party (PDP) chief, Mehbooba Mufti’s 2019 statement if Article 370 was tinkered with, there would be no one left in the erstwhile state to hold aloft the tricolor.

Four years to the day the PDP chief made that statement, Jammu and Kashmir were decked up for a grand Independence Day celebration.

Earlier, on Sunday, hundreds of youths in Srinagar carrying the tricolor in their hands went about busting the myth around ‘Azadi’ that used to reverberate in the Valley in the dark days of militancy.

Once considered a hotbed of militancy, South Kashmir saw huge participation of people from all walks of life in a Tiranga Yatra as part of the ‘Meri Mati, Mera Desh’ campaign.