india

Updated: Sep 02, 2019 11:00 IST

Police in Kerala’s Kozhikode district said on Sunday the green flags used by activists of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) in a college during a campaign for students’ union election were not the national flag of Pakistan.

The green flag resembling Pakistan’s flags were used during a programme organised by the MSF, a student outfit of the Indian Union Muslim League which a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front. After the Congress, it is the second biggest partner in the UDF. There were widespread protests after a video of the incident went viral on social media.

Police had booked at least 10 students and arrested two on Saturday after video footage of a rally inside the Silver Arts and Science College campus in Perambra of Kozhikode went viral.

“We have questioned some of the arrested and found that those flags were neither Pakistani or MSF flags. Usually, on the MSF flag, MSF is written in bold on the side. But this time it was missing and that gave an impression that those were Pakistani flags,” said Peramabra station house officer KK Biju.

The MSF has also clarified that the name of the organisation was missing from the flags as excited students made them in rush as part of the campaign fever.

“The visuals were shot by people with vested interests to portray students in a bad light. Sad, a small mistake from them were blown out of proportion by them,” MSF president TP Ashraf said, adding nobody can claim a monopoly on nationalism and patriotism.

Later, some channels in Pakistan also showed these visuals saying students were protesting against the government’s restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is not the first time such a mix-up over flags has happened. During Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s roadshow in Wayanad, while he was campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections, green flags of the Muslim League were widely misrepresented as Pakistani flags.

A senior BJP leader even said that Wayanad looked like a part of Pakistan.