Saffron’s not the colour for Knesset, BJP MLAs find

A Delegation of politicians from India on Sunday unwittingly got caught up in an Israeli domestic controversy when BJP members were not allowed to enter the country’s Parliament with their saffron scarfs, as the colour is linked to those opposing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plans to evacuate Jewish settlers from Gaza Strip.

Vijay Jolly, the BJP MLA who led the delegation was asked before entering the Knesset to take off the scarfs, which also had lotus symbols on them at one end, because the colour has become associated with those opposing Sharon’s evacuation plan, Army Radio

reported. The security guards at the entrance were alarmed thinking that they may be anti-disengagement plan protestors, the radio said.

The delegation was not immediately available for comments.

The orange colour, quite similar to saffron, has become the symbol of resistance for the settler community in the Gaza Strip and posters and flags of the colour are a common sight among their sypathisers across the country. —PTI