The Perambra police have registered an FIR against nearly 20 students of the Silver Arts College, Kozhikode, when a flag they raised at the college election campaign was suspected of bearing resemblance to Pakistan’s national flag. However, the students, belonging to the political outfit Muslim Students Front (MSF), have said that it is the party’s flag that they raised for the campaign.

“It is similar to both the Pakistan flag as well as the flag of the MSF. It was after seeing a video posted on Facebook, of the students carrying this flag, that the police took up the case suo motu. However, we have not booked any of the students so far,” says the Perambra SI, refuting media reports that said the contrary.

Alt News, a portal for busting fake news, pointed out that quite a few media reports had got it wrong when they wrote that the students were booked for waving the Pakistani flag, without even adding ‘allegedly’ in their hurried headlines. They displayed both the flags and pointed out the differences.

The MSF flag has green at the top and white at the bottom with the symbol of a moon crescent and a star at the top left corner. The Pakistan flag has white on its left side, and green on its right, with the moon and the star symbols in the middle of the green part.

The MSF Kerala has posted on its Facebook page that the flag may not have had the correct proportions, but that shouldn’t be reason for spreading false campaigns. Quoting the MSF state president Mishab Keezhariyur’s words at a press conference, the post says that other political outfits too use big flags like they did at election campaigns and may get the proportions wrong. But the accusation, comparing their flag to the flag of another nation, is belittling, the post says.

“The flag was clearly seen when it was waved, tied to a stick. However, when the stick broke, it was carried horizontally and some people have deliberately misrepresented it to create unnecessary controversies.”