Kerala Police has filed a case against 30 students for allegedly waving a flag that resembled that of Pakistan on campus. The incident happened in Silver College, Perambra in Kozhikode district of Kerala and the students belong to the Muslim Students Front (MSF).

Muslim Students Front (MSF) which is now in the eye of storm claims that it was a mistake from their end as their intention was to use a flag of their organisation.

According to the police, the incident happened on Thursday, during the college union election campaign. Students belonging to the United Democratic Front, which includes the KSU and MSF held a procession on one side of the campus. Among the smaller flags of the respective organisations, a group of students also waved a larger flag which resembled the flag of Pakistan.

More than 30 students booked for allegedly waving #Pakistan flag in college campus of Kerala. Case has been filed against students from MSF (Muslim Students Front). This incident happened when students were carrying out procession as part of union elections. pic.twitter.com/EbNvBLcjoT Shivangi Thakur (@thakur_shivangi) August 31, 2019



Soon after the visuals of the incident went viral on social media, Perambra police launched a probe into the incident. Following the preliminary enquiry an FIR was registered against 30 students belonging to the MSF under sections 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 153 (intent to cause riot) and 149 (offence committed under unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code.

"We have enquired about the background of the students involved in this, as of now there isn't anything suspicious or alarming about their past. The students claim that the mistake happened while printing the flag, anyway we are verifying the facts," the Peramabara CI told India Today TV.



A representative from the student organisation who spoke to India Today TV admitted that there was a mistake at their end. "They [students] did not properly inspect the flag after printing. Our flag has two equal halves of white and green with MSF marked at the white portion. But this flag was out of proportion making it look similar to the Pakistani flag. We cannot even think about using a Pakistani flag," he said.