Jammu and Kashmir: Police file FIR after national flag allegedly displayed upside down at a rally
The complaint was filed by a local resident in Kathua who alleged that the act was ‘very heinous’ and had hurt the ‘sentiments of patriotic citizens’.
The Jammu and Kashmir Police filed a First Information Report against unknown people for allegedly displaying the national flag upside down at a rally in Kathua district, PTI reported on Saturday.
An unidentified police official said the FIR was filed under Section 2 (insulting the national flag or the Constitution) of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act. An investigation is underway, said the official.
The incident took place on Thursday at a rally led by Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Rajiv Jasrotia. BJP candidate Rahul Dev Sharma was on his way to file nomination papers for the upcoming Urban Local Body elections and Jasrotia accompanied him in a procession, said the police official.
Vinod Nijhawan, a local resident, filed the complaint at the Kathua police station, alleging that the national flag was displayed upside down during the rally. As evidence, he presented a video clip from the rally that allegedly shows a person, walking behind Sharma, holding the flag upside down.
Nijhawan said in the complaint that the act was “very heinous” and hurt the “sentiments of the patriotic citizens of India”.