Flags hoisted at Red Fort did not replace Tricolor, nor did Khalistan

Flags hoisted at Red Fort did not replace Tricolor, nor did Khalistan

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As part of the protests against the center’s farm bills, farmers’ associations and police in Delhi have extinguished the agreed circular routes from Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri borders for the Republic Day trekking parades.

It was decided that the protesters would enter Delhi, but some of the three access points would remain in areas close to the border. However, several protesting groups turned away from the track and were met by police drawer and tear gas shells. They entered the iconic Red Fort and hoisted flags from some domes and from a flag staff on the ramparts of the fort, to unfold the tricolor on Independence Day.

This has given rise to two widespread claims –

1) the protesters took down the Indian national flag, and

2) replaced the tricolor with the Khalistan flag.

“What are these farmers trying to do by replacing the tricolor with their religious flag?” interrogate Sonam Mahajan.

Times Now editor-in-chief Rahul Shivshankar also claims the tricolor has been replaced. But he added that the one that was hoisted was a flag of farmers union or religious sect.

That the flagpole flag waved the Khalistan flag open is massively viral on social media. Among those who strengthened the claim was the spokesperson of BJP Delhi Harish Khurana, Parliamentary Secretary to Varun Gandhi, Ishita Yadav, and BJP supporters Divya Kumar Soti, Vikrant Kumar, Sumit Kadel, Sumit Kadel, Sumeet Thakkar, Anurag Dixit and Shefali Vaidya.

The right-wing propaganda website OpIndia also wrote in an article that protesters were waving the Khalistan flag out of the Red Fort.

Fact check

This fact check is divided into two sections that break down both claims separately.

1. Indian flag has not been replaced or removed

Protesters hoisted a flag from an empty pole mast. They did not take down the Indian flag or replace it with a flag of Khalistan. There are several videos confirming the same. In the video below, the tricolor can be seen on top of the Lahore gate (entrance to the Red Fort) as the protester climbs the empty flagpole.

The Indian flag can be seen in several photos.

Flags were also set up domes from the fort.

2. The flag raised by protesters is not the Khalistan flag

The flags raised by the protesting peasants are the Nishan Sahib or Sikh religious flags.

“Whether it is yellow or saffron, triangular flags with the Khanda – two swords – are Sikh flags. These are not Khalistan flags, ”said Amandeep Sandhu, author of Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines.

He added: “When a flag is hoisted as a symbol of regime change, the previous flag is lowered and the new flag unfolded. In this case, the tricolor, the flag of India, is still being hoisted. It was not touched. The hoisting of the Sikh flag means that the people of the country also want to assert their identity. They want to be counted. They want the rulers of the nation not to take them for granted. ”

Journalist Hartosh Singh Bal also tweeted that the flags unfolded were Sikh religious flags, not the flag of Khalistan.

Sikh flags are also displayed on the Punjab tableau during Republic Day parades. It was also shown this year.

The screenshot below is of the Republic Day parade held last year.

The widespread allegation that the Khalistan flag was hoisted by protesters during the trek in Delhi is false. Several others suggested that the Indian national flag be replaced if the flag staff was empty.

This article first appeared on AltNews. Read the original here.

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