A 30-year-old woman was arrested, while her 10-year-old son and two of his friends were sent to a juvenile home for allegedly insulting the national flag on Wednesday, 25 November, in Umreth town of Gujarat’s Anand district, The Indian Express reported.
The children, all aged between 10-14, were detained for hoisting an altered tricolour, which was an act of ‘mischief’ according to a police official.
BD Jadeja, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Anand division, said, “The three children had hoisted the national flag, where instead of the Ashok Chakra, a few Islamic inscriptions were drawn over it. Taking cognisance, an FIR was lodged yesterday and we have arrested the woman at whose residence the incident took place and three juveniles have been presented at the Bal Adalat.”
According to Jadeja, the woman “should have stopped the boys from hoisting the flag in such a manner.”
As a consequence of this, the woman and boys were booked under Section 2 of Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, for their ‘insult’ to the national flag.
The issue was brought up by an Anand-based activist Jignesh Prajapati, who posted a video on Twitter of the minors hoisting the flag with a crescent moon and star instead of the Ashok Chakra. He tagged Anand Police and Gujarat Police, and urged them to take strict action.
(With inputs from News18 and The Indian Express)
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