I wrote this (Tricolour flown upside down--news reaching us from Sirsa and Mandi Gobindgarh. Yes it is a dishonour. The news in text is welcome but what good are the newspapers doing in showing the upside down flag in pictures?After all making people see the reversed flag should amount to dishonour. And by visually showing it one more time is not a healthy journalistic practice. Two wrongs do not make a right.) on the Facebook and received huge response but an eamil from Mr S H Mohan, a DGP(Retd) of Haryana should be an eye-opener for us all. Thanks Sir.
"Yes the tricolour was seen flying upside down on Independence day,and duly reported by the newspapers. This has happened before, and will almost certainly happen again in our country - unfortunately.The last time I recollect I was in service then, an enquiry was conducted, The HC from the police lines had gone on leave so a havildar from the Armed police Mbn had been ordered to have the tricolour folded and strung up with rose petals etc. He did do the job but had never done it before [the enquiry revealed] and the result was the tricolour flew upside down. He was punished. The ASP I/C lines who should have checked the matter did not get even a verbal warning. The havildar swore that it was not his intention to insult the National flag. I believed him. His uncle - an Infantry Naik from the RR - who had just come home on leave from service in Srinagar appeared before me to plead his nephew's case. He stated that he had seen the tricolour stamped upon and burnt in public while men and women laughed and clapped more than once in Srinagar. I knew that what he said was true.Was that an insult to our flag ? Yes it most certainly was [as the intention was present ]. Which was not present in the HAP man's case.The difference in law is intent which either makes it a crime or doesnt'. So, do we treat the Sirsa case as an insult to our flag, or do we see it as a careless mistake ? I do not think our flag was dishonoured at Sirsa, but I most certainly would say that it was dishonoured at Srinagar.
As for the news paper reporting the incident - I think one may look at the matter differently. Weigh the issue up - Yes the news papers must give the people the news. It is their sacred right. And we are proud of the freedom of our press. But, who benefits from this piece about the flag fluttering upside down at the parade ? We Indians ? I dont' know if I do. I feel chagrined that the people who insulted the flag in Srinagar [and in other places too for that matter] will probably gloat and smile in glee.
I remember another incident in which our President stumbled while trying to get down to squat at an important function. He was old and probably a bit stiff from arthritis and couldnt get down as smoothly as a younger man would. And when he stumbled his leg lifted, and his dhoti came away showing a certain portion of his upper leg. Naturally the newspaperman took that photograph, and several papers carried it on one of the pages as a news item the next day. It was shown on TV as well. Now we are proud of the freedom of the press. It is one of our great freedoms. And the people of this country have a right to get the news and all of it. But, who would feel happy at our discomfiture ? The people who burn our flag and stamp on it, or the simple men from the police lines who stand to get punished for something they never intended to in the first place? And what about the keen men from the newspapers who we are proud of ? They stand for the freedom of the press. It is their right.
There are angles from where the matter doesn't look so simple."
1 comment:
I strongly agree with ex-DGP's reply to your article. He has expounded on what you actually pointed towards. I suppose Mr Mohan reinstated that Havildar - though he has written that he believed his story, my supposition flows from it only. As to media, I advocate them on most fronts, off late they have also succumbed to the motto of overzealousness and competitiveness at the cost of ethics, national pride, honesty, transparency etc...Other day I read about an individual Mewa Ram I think, he goes around on his bicycle collecting our national flag from bins, streets etc.. and perform their last rites. While performing the last rites Mewa Ram is actually burning the dead aspirations of living people in this country, A country which is on irreversible path of making rich more rich and pushing the poor down the cliff of basic sustenance. Coming to the point of reining in media - Who will - Judiciary or Politico-bureaucratic class, it takes a thief to catch a thief. So handing in the reins to bigger thief is fraught with more serious ramifications than what we are facing through our hyper media at the moment.
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