Lowering of saffron flag triggers tension in village in Mandya district

Authorities hoisted the tricolour atop a 108-ft flagpole at Keregodu in Mandya district on Sunday hours after the lowering of a saffron flag with an image of Lord Hanuman on it, sparked a protest in the town.

Authorities hoisted the tricolour atop a 108-ft flagpole at Keregodu in Mandya district on Sunday hours after the lowering of a saffron flag with an image of Lord Hanuman on it, sparked a protest in the town.

Local people along with BJP and Janata Dal (S) leaders staged a protest soon after the authorities lowered the saffron flag, citing rules that permitted only the national flag to be flown on government land.

Amid the rising tension in the town, with protesters gathering at the venue in large numbers and shouting slogans against the Congress government and the police tightening security by deploying additional forces, the authorities managed to hoist the national flag.

In the melee the crowd broke the barricades erected in the area, forcing the police to resort to lathi-charge to maintain law and order.

Meanwhile, a host of BJP and JD (S) leaders, including Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok and former MLA Suresh Gowda, who joined the protesters at Keregodu, were taken into custody by the police.

The local youths had obtained permission from the gram panchayat to hoist a flag in front of the Hanuman temple on January 22 to mark the inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

However, local Congress MLA Ravi Kumar Ganiga maintained that the gram panchayat had given the nod as the local youth organisation had sought permission to hoist the national flag in their application. The land belonged to the government and rules provided for hoisting only the national flag on such land, he said.