Days after a controversy erupted in Karnataka’s Mandya over hoisting a saffron Hanuman flag in a pole erected for the national flag, the green flag that had been hoisted in a lamp post near Shivaji Nagar in Bengaluru has also been replaced with the national flag. According to reports, the green flag belongs to a dargah situated in the locality. On January 28, Keragodu village in Mandya witnessed tensions as a Hanuman flag was hoisted on a 108-feet tall flagpole that was erected recently for the national flag. It was soon taken down and the national flag was hoisted, which led to protests and police lathi charge in the village.
Read: Protests in Karnataka’s Mandya after Hanuman flag removed by panchayat officials
On Tuesday, January 30, several social media users, including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal raised objections to the green flag. Patil posted in X (formerly Twitter) saying, “Hon @CPBlr @DCPEASTBCP Is it not against our flag code to fly a green flag similar to the color of an enemy country in a public area? Immediately, remove this and fly the national flag here. Shivajinagar is in India, not Pakistan.”
Within hours after the posts on social media, the Shivajinagar police met the dargah committee, as well as the residents, and held talks, following which the green flag was replaced with the national flag. Dargah committee member Akmal Pasha had told The Hindu that Shivajinagar was an example of communal harmony and that people of all faiths ran business there. “We will not let this peace be disrupted. So we decided not to resist and removed the green flag," he said.