Fact check: Truth of the flag hoisted at Red Fort by protesting farmers

The two-month-long peasant agitation in the National Capital Region culminated on Republic Day when some protesters stormed the Red Fort and hoisted a flag. Shortly afterwards, netizens began debating the nature of the flag.

Call it a black day for India, several Twitter and Facebook users claim the Khalistani flag was hoisted at Red Fort. Some claim that the national flag was taken out and that farmers hoisted their flag in place of the Tricolor.

Khalistani Flag Raised at Red Fort .. BLACK DAY FOR INDIA .. https://t.co/Rz5peVQrHC

– Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) 26 January 2021

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that it was not a Khalist flag but the Nishan Sahib, a religious flag of Sikhs, hoisted in Red Fort. Nishan Sahib has the ‘khanda’ (two-edged dagger) symbol, while Khalistani flags also have ‘Khalistan’ written on them.

The archived versions of the posts are stored here, here and here.

Has the Tricolor been replaced by protesters?

We discussed the ANI video that is most shared on social media by netizens who discussed the incident. The video shows a person climbing a pole and hoisting a flag. But the pole had no flag from the beginning. It was also not seen that the person removed any flag in the video.

# LOOK A protester hoists a flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi# FarmLaws #Republiekdag pic.twitter.com/Mn6oeGLrxJ

– ANI (@ANI) 26 January 2021

The main Tricolor at the top pole in Red Fort remained untouched. This can also be seen in the ANI video.

To further confirm the incident, we spoke to Navjot Kaur, a correspondent for India Today, who was in Red Fort during the incident. Navjot confirmed she did not see anyone removing a Tricolor in Red Fort. “The pole was empty and the person just climbed in there and fixed the flag,” she said.

Was it a Khalistic flag?

When we zoomed in on the flag in the ANI video, we found that the color of the flag was pale and a ‘khanda’ was printed on it. ‘Khanda’ is an emblem used in Sikhism, which contains a double-edged sword, chakra and two one-sided swords. This emblem was introduced during Guru Gobind Singh’s time.

To further confirm the flag seen in the ANI video, India Today spoke to Harinder Pal Singh, a Sikh scholar and senior member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Steering Committee. Singh first condemned the incident, saying: “We do not support the incident that took place in Red Fort and we think it was not right to fly any religious flag at Red Fort.”

At the same time, he confirmed to India Today that the flag hoisted at Red Fort was the Nishan Sahib and not the Khalistan flag. ‘I watched it closely and it’s clearly the Nishan Sahib, a symbol of Sikh spirituality, hoisted in the Red Fort. “This is not a flag of Khalistan,” Singh said.

India Today correspondent Navjot Kaur, who was present at Red Fort, also confirmed that it was the Nishan Sahib. She also said that in addition to Nishan Sahib, flags related to the peasant movement were also seen in the Red Fort.

What is Nishan Sahib?

Nishan Sahib is a light-colored flag that is hoisted on every gurudwara except that of Nanaksarias. It was introduced by Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru who militarized the community in the early 17th century and waged his first battle with the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. That version of the Nishan Sahib was without an emblem.

Later, the ‘khanda’ symbol was introduced during Guru Gobind Singh’s time. The color of Nishan Sahib can also be saffron or blue. Supporters of Khalistan also use the Nishan Sahib as their symbol.

The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement that began in the 1970s. Khalistan flags used by his supporters usually have ‘Khalistan’ on them. It can come with or without the image of ‘khanda’ and in different colors yellow, saffron or blue.

This is not the first time the Sikh religion flag has been hoisted at Red Fort. According to Sikh scholars, Baba Baghel Singh of the Confederate Singh Krora Misl Confederate camped in Delhi and entered the Red Fort with his troops in 1783 during the reign of Shah Alam II, taking over his Diwan-e-Aam and flying the Nishan Sahib at the fort. .

Several flags were carried by various organizations that took part in the protests on 26 January. Social media is also filled with claims and counter-claims. We can not actually check every flag seen on the protest site. But the most factual control of the hoisting of a flag at Red Fort, can be concluded that it was not a flag of Khalistan but the Sikh religious flag Nishan Sahib unfolded on the site. No Tricolor was removed during the incident.