Inverted Tricolour at Yogi Adityanath Event in Mauritius Sparks Nationalism Row

As soon as the mistake was noted, the opposition launched an attack on the BJP ministers.

New Delhi, Nov 4: Twitter and its potential as a powerful social media platform was recently stressed upon by US President Donald Trump. However, that same platform can also capture mistakes varying from a typo to an inverted national flag at a Mauritius event and spark controversy.

Something similar happened recently when an inverted tricolour was spotted by Twitter users in a post by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Giriraj Singh. Singh was attending an event in Mauritius with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and did not notice an inverted national flag sparking the controversy of ‘who is a real nationalist’.

Interestingly, in the two images shared by Singh, where he is addressing the Aapravasi Ghat event and the other writing on visitors’ book, the tricolor can be seen on the table with its green side turned upwards. CM Adityanath also stood beside Singh, along with other dignitaries, but they, as much can be seen in the image, did not notice the inverted flag.

It is unclear if they later rectified it, which is unlikely, given that they seemingly did not notice the blunder but a few twitter users were generous enough to request them to rectify it.

However, as soon as the mistake was noted, the opposition launched an attack on the BJP ministers.

Maharashtra Congress Secretary Shehzad Poonawalla took a dig at the incident and said the BJP will hardly notice the disrespect of the tricolour as they did not unfurl the flag for 52 years.

Those who did not unfurl the national flag for 52 years will hardly notice this disrespect of the tricolour… #Pulkistan bhej do inko https://t.co/o6CpMKFqKg

— Shehzad Poonawalla (@Shehzad_Ind) November 4, 2017

Following are a few evidences of the blunder, a few of which were removed soon after it was noticed and others which were live till this article was published.

We have a blood relationship with Mauritius .We consider it as our family.
Addressing Aapravasi ghat function, n writing on visitor’s book pic.twitter.com/gXusx3SokT

— Giriraj Singh (@girirajsinghbjp) November 3, 2017

In case Singh’s tweet is deleted:

 

The Indian ministers were in Mauritius in a bid to strengthen the ties the two nations shares. CM Adityanath said he wishes to make ties with Mauritius stronger and increase cooperation in the field of industry, investment and tourism. The CM mentioned the long ties with the island nation which started with the arrival of people in large numbers from UP in the early 19th century for working in sugarcane fields.