Mandya flag row: FIR against right-wing activists for preventing officials from hoisting tricolour

According to the complaint filed at night on January 28, a saffron flag was hoisted in violation of rules by the Sri Gowrishankar Seva Trust and this was objected to by some rivals. To resolve the issue, at a peace meeting, village officials tried to convince the members of the Trust to allow the removal of the saffron flag and the hoisting of the national flag in its place. However, they refused to cooperate. The Keragodu panchayat development officer then sought the assistance of higher officials in removing the saffron flag installed in violation of the rules, according to the complaint.

“With tensions rising between supporters of the trust and a rival group, Mandya taluk officials decided to intervene and arrived at the gram panchayat office on the morning of January 28 with the police but around 400 to 500 Hindutva activists from Keragodu and other villages prevented the saffron flag from being taken down,” says the police complaint.

“Despite over three hours of effort, from 6 am to 9 am, to convince the protestors of the need to remove the flag, they were unrelenting. Subsequently, with the help of the police, the Hanuman flag was withdrawn,” the complaint states.

According to the complaint, the protestors did not allow the national flag to be raised on the flag pole after the removal of the saffron flag and this resulted in prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code being imposed in a 200-metre area around the flag post.

Around 3 pm on January 28 when the government officials tried to hoist the national flag, they were obstructed and manhandled by the protestors, it is alleged.

Incidentally, the Keragodu gram panchayat is controlled by the JDS and has BJP and Congress members in a minority. However, the gram panchayat had unanimously decided to hoist the saffron Hanuman flag on the new flag post in the gram panchayat premises ahead of the Ram Mandir consecration although the official permission from the panchayat on January 5 was only for hoisting the national flag or the state flag on the flag post, according to the Keragodu panchayat records.

For nearly eight days, the saffron flag was flown on the flag post. Trouble began brewing after Republic Day when the saffron flag was replaced for a day with the national flag. After the national flag was brought down, the Hanuman flag was hoisted again, and this time, objections were raised by a section of the villagers, say locals.

On Monday, January 29, Keragodu Panchayat Development Officer Jeevan B M was suspended by the Mandya district administration. He was accused of permitting the Sri Gowrishankar Seva Trust to construct a flagpole on government land in violation of the law.

The Hanuman flag issue saw a protest in Mandya by the new opposition alliance of the BJP and the JDS on Monday. The BJP has accused the Congress government of being “anti-Hindu” for removing the saffron flag on January 28.

The Congress government has accused the BJP and JDS of making the flag issue a communal one by favouring the saffron flag over the national flag to polarise voters on religious lines ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.