The first such flag will be unfurled at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which is on the boil over the arrest of a top student leader for alleged anti-India demonstrations and sloganeering.

The Narendra Modi government today made it mandatory for central universities across the country to fly the national flag. The decision is said to have been put forward by 46 central university vice-chancellors who met Union Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani.

The government has said the Tricolour should be hoisted on a 207-feet mast and should weigh 35 kg. Under fire for its handling of the unrest in the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the decision came after nationwide protests by students for the release of JNU students union president Kanhaiya Kumar who was arrested on February 12 following an ABVP complaint that he had made statements that amounted to sedition.

The government said the decision on the Tricolour was to evoke patriotism in people, something that is being considered to have been rocked by the protests over the last week which also saw targeted attacks by men in black suits on Kanhaiya Kumar, the media, JNU teachers and others at Patiala House Court.

And guess where the first such flag is to come up?

Yep, you got that right - Jawaharlal Nehru University. "The flag will symbolise the unity and integrity of the nation, under which higher education would flourish," a source in the HRD Ministry said.

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