The picture of the Red Fort without the National Flag in Delhi was shared by more than 29,000 people and had over 12,000 reactions on one Facebook post.
New Delhi: A picture of the Red Fort minus the Tricolour hoisted atop went viral on Facebook recently, with the claim that it was the first time it had happened since Independence.
The image was posted by a page called ‘With INC’, which has more than 6,00,000 likes. The post said, “70 saal baad pehli baar lal kile se tiranga hata dia gaya (The Tricolour has been removed from the Red Fort for the first time in 70 years)”.
The picture also went viral on WhatsApp.
The post shared by ‘With INC’ is misleading. It’s not the “first time in 70 years” that the Indian Tricolour was not hoisted at the Red Fort. All the images that were shared on various media were clicked post sunset. As far as possible, the Tricolour is hoisted only between sunrise and sunset, with exceptions made for very special occasions.
Section III, Subsection 3.6 of the Indian Flag Code 2002 states, “Where the practice is to fly the flag on any public building, it shall be flown on that building on all days including Sundays and holidays and, except as provided in this code, it shall be flown from sunrise to sunset irrespective of weather conditions. The flag may be flown on such a building at night also but this should be only on very special occasions”.
Thus, it would only be a rare occurrence if the Tricolour were seen hoisted after dusk.
One should see this photograph in the context of the government’s recent tie-up with the Dalmia Bharat Group under the Adopt A Heritage programme for the maintenance of the Red Fort. Online, it was painted as the “privatisation” and “sale” of India’s national heritage.
The article is in collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer