MP town tense after ‘Pakistani flag’ found atop a Hanuman temple

A case has been registered against some unidentified persons over the incident.

Updated on: Aug 25, 2017, 19:44:15 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Neeraj Santoshi

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Tension erupted in Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur district on Thursday after a “Pakistani flag” was found hoisted atop a Hanuman temple, prompting authorities to prohibit gathering of more than four people in the district headquarters.

Tension grips a Madhya Pradesh’s Narsinghpur town after a ‘Pakistani flag’ was found atop a Hanuman temple. (HT Photo)

A case has been registered against unidentified persons for hurting religious sentiments, police said on Friday.

Police also prohibited sharing of “communally sensitive” contents on social medial platforms.

Locals saw the flag when they went to the Panchmukhi Hanuman temple on the outskirts of Narsinghpur town, some 190kms from the state capital Bhopal, in the morning.

Members of the temple committee immediately removed the flag that has a white star and crescent on a dark green field, with a vertical white stripe at the hoist.

But unlike on the Pakistan’s national flag, the crescent on the flag atop the temple was facing downward with a star below it.

The miscreants also allegedly scribbled a message on the temple wall threatening to wipe out a particular community.

Several right-wing Hindu organisations took out protest marches in the town to protest the incident and demanded immediate action against the perpetrators.

Akhilesh Dahiya, Narsinghpur Kotwali police station in-charge told HT over phone that several people were questioned over the incident.

“We have questioned scores of people and more are being questioned in this case. As the CCTV of the temple was not functioning, we are now trying to get the footages from the nearby CCTVs to get a cue about the identity of the perpetrators,” he said.

Dahiya said section 144 of the CrPC had been imposed in the town restricting gathering of more than four people in a particular place to prevent any further flare up.

The case against the unidentified people has been registered under IPC section 295 A (outraging religious feelings ) and 298 (using words that hurt religious feelings ).

(With inputs from Monica Pandey from Jabalpur)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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