The upsurge in patriotic feeling, in keeping with the developments on either side of the Line of Control, is reflected in the number of programmes taking place on the streets of the region. Surat has already seen more than a dozen of them in the past few days.

All it takes is a couple of bamboo stems, straw, a pair of trousers (loin cloth, in a few cases), a shirt and a round clay pot for an effigy to be made. A touch of paint for the face, and voila! The effigy's ready... ready to be burnt, that is.

``It does not take is more than 90 minutes to assemble things and put the effigy together. We have already got a Masters degree in the art of effigy making,'' says president of BJP Yuva Morcha Jitubhai Barot. But these protests are definitely different from the ones carried out to run down political opponents, he says, adding, ``It is mostly swayambhu.''

A green cloth, a mulla topi and a few vitriolic slogans denouncing Nawaz Sharif and Pakistan's designs are essential ingredients of these latest protests, some of which have serious potential to trigger trouble. BJP activists say so high is the public enthusiasm that a Sharif-effigy-flogging programme in Udhna saw 600 onlookers doing their bit a couple of days ago.

The Congress, for reasons known only to the party, has proved to be a bit slow on the uptake. In fact, Sanjay Patwa, former president of the party's youth wing, claims he was the only one from his party to burn a Pakistan flag in Surat.

``It's very easy to make a Pakistan flag. The cloth is available from the Bhaga Talao area'', he says. ``The cost per effigy is not more than Rs 100.'' Criticising his own partymen while sitting in the party office, he adds, ``Either they are inactive or lack buddhi.''

He should know, for his party is in Opposition in the State Assembly as well as the Surat Municipal Corporation and they have burnt so many effigies on inconsequential issues that the cadres have lost count.

Incidentally, so far as the police are concerned, such hate acts are completely out of bounds in the best of times. And when the prime minister of a neighbouring country and its flag are involved, there is no way the police will give permission. ``But who needs permission anyway?'', asks an activist, adding, ``Even if the police arrive they watch silently from the roadside. It's during political protests that we're wary of the police, because they always have to appease the ruling party.''

The BJP youth wing has also set up a `Kargil Brigade' to supplement its efforts. ``We have able to bring out the dormant feeling of patriotism among the public,'' Barot says, pointing to the overwhelming response the support group had received. Within hours of being announced, more than 400 people signed up, a number that has since swelled to 1700, he says.

A freedom fighter was among the first to join. ``We fought against the British. I am going to die anyway, so I'm even ready to serve at the border'', he says. And who is to argue with that?