All section Close
Image Credit: Twitter
Was the National Flag Replaced by A Saffron Flag? No, Viral Posts Are Misleading!
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
Karnataka, 10 Feb 2022 11:21 AM GMT
Editor : Bharat Nayak |
As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
During the ongoing Hijab controversy in Karnataka, viral posts on social media falsely claimed that the national flag was lowered in a college to be replaced by a saffron flag.
Following the violence due to the ongoing Hijab controversy in Shivamogga, Karnataka, section 144 has been imposed in the area. News outlets reported incidents of stone-pelting and lathi-charge as students clashed against police.
The Hijab controversy erupted when six female students from the Government PU College for Girls in Udupi were not allowed to attend classes wearing hijab. A protest was carried out by the students on December 31, 2021, claiming the college was not allowing them to attend classes for the past 15 days.
The controversy led to a group of boys hoisting a saffron flag on the college grounds of Government First Grade College, Shivamogga.
The hoisting of the saffron flag was captured on camera and went viral across social media. In a tweet, the President of Karnataka Congress, DK Shivakumar, claimed that the National flag was replaced by a saffron flag.
The Twitter page of Youth Congress also published a video with the same claim.
India Today had published a report with the claim, which has now been taken down.
Claim:
National flag replaced by a Saffron flag in Government First Grade College, Shivamogga.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be misleading. The flagpole was empty after the republic day celebrations and the saffron flag was placed on the empty flagpole.
After examining several videos of the incident, we determined that the videos do not show a national flag being present in any instance. The following video was shot from a distance and shows the gathering of the police at the grounds preventing students from entering the school grounds after the state government issued prohibitory orders.
Deepak Bopanna, a Times Now principal correspondent, tweeted the following picture of the grounds of Government First Grade College. The picture of the flagpole was shared by the principal of the college, Dhananjay BR. The principal stated that the Indian flag was removed from the flagpole after January 26th, 2022.
In a video statement to ANI, Shivamogga SP BM Laxmi Prasad stated that just a saffron flag was hoisted on an empty flagpole. He refuted the claims spreading on social media and stated that the saffron flag was later removed.
Activists from the National Student Union of India later installed the national flag replacing the saffron flag from the flagpole. They sang the national anthem as well.
Fact-Checking website Boom contacted Principal of Govt First Grade College, Shivamogga. According to him, the flag pole was empty when the protesting students had installed the saffron flag. The principal stated that since January 26, 2022, 6 pm, no flag was hoisted in the college.
Conclusion:
To sum up, the claim that the national flag was lowered by a group of boys who then hoisted a saffron flag on the college grounds of Government First Grade College, Shivamogga, is misleading. In fact, the flagpole was empty after January 26th, 2022 and the saffron flag was placed on the empty flagpole. The viral claim lacked the essential context of the situation.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
Must Reads
We are an independent and public-spirited digital media platform for Indian millennials. We report news and issues that matter as well as give you the opportunity to take action.
