A square once synonymous with protest slogans lit up with thousands of lamps on Diwali — and Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat made sure the image reached every corner of the country. On Monday, 9 November 2026, Shekhawat posted a video of Lal Chowk in central Srinagar bathed in the warm glow of diyas and coloured lights, framing it as proof of a Kashmir transformed.

Posting in Hindi, Shekhawat wrote: 'Jo Lal Chowk kabhi virodh ke naaron se goonjta tha, aaj hazaaron deeyon ki roshni se jagmagaa raha hai...' — 'The Lal Chowk that once echoed with protest slogans is today glowing with the light of thousands of lamps... this is the new identity of a changing Kashmir!' He called the illumination 'a beautiful picture of changing Kashmir' and linked it directly to electoral choice: 'See the power of your one vote.'

Why Lal Chowk carries such symbolic weight

Lal Chowk is no ordinary traffic roundabout. The historic square in the heart of Srinagar has for decades been the stage for political rallies, shutdowns, and the most charged moments of the Valley's turbulent recent history. Its name alone once conjured images of unrest. The idea that Diwali diyas — a festival with no traditional mass presence in the Muslim-majority Valley — could illuminate it without incident is precisely the contrast Shekhawat is amplifying.

The political context stretches back to August 2019, when the central government abrogated Article 370, reorganising Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories and ushering in direct central administration. Since then, BJP leaders have consistently pointed to public festivals, tourist footfall records, and cultural events in the Valley as evidence that the reorganisation delivered peace and prosperity.

A recurring frame: festivals as proof of normalcy

Shekhawat's post is part of a well-established messaging pattern. Each Diwali, Eid, and New Year's celebration in Srinagar that proceeds without disruption becomes a data point in the government's 'changed Kashmir' narrative. Tourism numbers in Jammu and Kashmir have been repeatedly cited by central ministers as a metric of revival, with the Valley's hospitality sector — long battered by uncertainty — presented as a beneficiary of restored stability.

As Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Shekhawat sits at the intersection of that story. Culture ministry initiatives aimed at integrating Kashmiri heritage into national tourism circuits, and the tourism ministry's push to develop winter-festival infrastructure in the Valley, give his amplification of the Lal Chowk visuals an institutional dimension beyond a single social-media post.

The image of a floodlit Lal Chowk on Diwali night is powerful precisely because it needs no caption — but Shekhawat gave it one anyway, and pointed straight at the ballot box. Whether voters in future elections read it as vindication or as political theatre, the picture itself will keep circulating.