Fact Check: Viral post asks for man’s arrest over burning India flag - 6 years after he was jailed for it
India Today
According to the AFWA probe, the viral post which shows a man burning the Indian flag is from six years ago. The man, Dileepan Mahendran from Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam, was swiftly arrested and sent to jail for 35 days over the post.
Ahead of India’s 75th Independence Day, the Centre has launched a new campaign — Har Ghar Tiranga — in an effort to encourage people across the country to hoist the national flag in their homes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also urged people to change their social media profile pictures to the Indian Tricolour as a part of this campaign.
Amid this, a set of photos featuring a young man burning the Indian flag has gone viral. Posts like these called for urgent police action against the man. However, these posts appear to be a little late.
AFWA’s investigation found that police action was swift, but more than six years ago. The incident took place in Tamil Nadu in 2016, and the man in question was arrested.
According to a February 2016 report, Dileepan Mahendran, a resident of Tamil Nadu’s Nagapattinam, had uploaded photos of him setting fire to the Indian flag on January 29 that year. He was arrested on February 1, 2016, by the Pulianthope police in Chennai.
Per The Times Of India, he was booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code — the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and the IT Act — based on a complaint from VG Narayanan, a member of a Hindu outfit. A court then sent him to jail.
The Caravan magazine reported that Mahendran had participated in an event marking seven years since the death of the journalist K Muthukumar, who “self-immolated to protest India’s inaction during the genocide of Tamils that marked the end of the Sri Lankan civil war.” Following the event, Dileepan burnt the flag.
At the time, speaking to reporters, Mahendran’s lawyer Elangovan said: “He is very passionate about social issues, and that’s why he did this. Who burns the national flag for the sake of burning it? He had a list of 30 demands that were not met and burnt the flag to turn people’s attention to them.”
