Shah hoists, Tricolour falls

Amit Shah takes the salute facing away from the flag at the BJP office on Wednesday.

Anita Joshua, TT, Aug 16, 2018 New Delhi: The Tricolour slipped down the pole and dropped to the ground as BJP president Amit Shah hoisted it at the party headquarters, handing critics a chance to get their own back on the face of an ecosystem that is ever ready to question others' "nationalist" bona fides.

Doordarshan broadcast that awkward moment live on Independence Day, so there was nothing the government could do for all its fabled reputation for micro-managing the media.

As the country watched, the stunned silence in the studios was broken by a male voice saying in an undertone: " Tch tch tch tch... disaster."

Most of those who watched and commented on the clip, which went viral, thought it was the anchor's voice and feared for his job, and worse.

But Doordarshan News director-general Mayank Agarwal told The Telegraph it wasn't the anchor. "We are looking into it but it's not the anchor. We are trying to find out more details."

Others in DD News said it was possibly a guest on the programme but could not provide a name, invoking the plea that it was a packed day at Doordarshan because of a number of official functions.

The flag malfunction was topped by another violation of the Flag Code of India. Not only did the Tricolour "touch the ground" - in violation of Clause 3.20 of Section IV, which deals with "Incorrect Display" - Shah did not face it while taking the salute.

After unfurling the flag, he turned towards the gathering to take the salute, as a result of which the Tricolour was to his left.

As the BJP's detractors, long at the receiving end of diatribes and lectures on nationalism, pounced on their chance, the Congress reminded people about how the BJP's ideological parent had been opposed to the Tricolour till 2002.

Posting the fiasco video, the Congress tweeted: "How can those who cannot take care of the National Flag manage the country? Had they not disrespected the National Flag for 50 years, then maybe the Tricolour would not have been insulted today in this manner."

The Congress tweet also referred to the national anthem in what seemed an allusion to Prime Minister Narendra Modi drinking water as the Jana Gana Mana started after he had wrapped up his#Independence Day speech at the Red Fort.

Although the drums had begun rolling in preparation for the anthem, Modi reached for his glass and took a couple of sips before quickly placing it down when he realised the anthem was on.

"Those who issue certificates of nationalism to others do not even know the protocol for the National Anthem," the Congress added without going into specifics, preferring to keep the focus on Shah's flag botch-up as it allowed the party to give it a historical perspective.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had been opposed to the Tricolour since the time of Independence, preferring instead the saffron flag. Acceptance of the national flag was one of the conditions independent India's first home minister, Vallabhbhai Patel, had set before the Sangh for lifting the ban imposed on it after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

Still, until the 2002 Republic Day, the national flag had only twice been hoisted at the Sangh headquarters - on the first Independence Day and on January 26, 1950, when India turned into a republic.

Since 2002, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister, hoisting the national flag at the Sangh headquarters has become a routine, and its head Mohan Bhagwat did the honours this Independence Day too.

The two clips together somewhat smudged the "picture-perfect" report card the Modi-Shah duo had planned for what is the last Independence Day before the general election.

Social media decided to give them a dose of the same medicine that Right-wing trolls reserve for the BJP's opponents.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted: "Nature has its strange ways. However mighty one may be, nature is supreme. See, the National Tricolour refused to unfurl in the hands of Amit Shah. Mother India is sending a message through the Tricolour - that she is unhappy."