Fact check: Indian flag not replaced by saffron flag in Karnataka amid hijab row [truth here]

Shocking details are emerging from the widespread incidents of violence from across Karnataka on Tuesday in the backdrop of hijab row. The miscreants have attacked a teacher with iron rods causing severe head injuries to him in Bagalkot district. But making another headline was the incident of replacing the national flag with a saffron one at a government college in Shivamogga.

Many social media users, journalists, news publications claimed that the national flag was replaced with a saffron flag at a government college in Karnataka's Shivamogga, triggering an outrage. As the video of the incident went viral on social media with Congress leader DK Shivakumar tweeting about it, many users condemned the actions of the boys. But it was later clarified that there was no national flag on the pole when the boys hoisted the saffron flag.

The claim

As the hijab row got intense across Karnataka, the incident of a group of boys replacing the tricolour with saffron flag added fuel to the fire. Many condemned the actions of the unidentified boys.

Many social media users, mainly DK Shivakumar and many other verified accounts of journalists and news outlets, tweeted about the incident. DK Shivakumar tweeted that "The situation in some Karnataka educational institutions has gone so out of hand that in one case the National flag was replaced by a saffron flag."

Fact check

The incident drew severe backlash mainly for the seriousness of the actions. Disrespecting the national flag is intolerable and a criminal offence, but as it appears, the claims made online were half-baked truths. While the boys did hoist a saffron flag on the pole of the Government First Grade College (CFGC) campus, they did not take down the national flag in doing so.

In fact, BOOM reached out to Dhananjaya BR, the principal of the college, who confirmed that there was no tricolour on the pole when the students with saffron shawls hoisted the saffron flag. Further, none of the videos of the incident backs the claims of DK Shivkumar or any other users who condemned the actions of the boys.

"The flag pole was empty when the protesting students were there, if a tricolour was removed, there would have been more protests. I saw a student climb up and put the saffron flag there," the principal who was at the spot told BOOM."There was no national flag on the pole then, and the last time it was hoisted was on January 26, 2022, and was removed after 6 pm that day. Since then the flag pole in the college has no flag hoisted on it," he added.

Based on the facts available, IBTimes has arrived at the conclusion that the national flag was not replaced by a saffron flag in Shivamogga.