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| - Fact Check: No, the Indian national flag is not banned inside Gujarat's Narendra Modi Stadium
A video showing a group of cricket fans alleging that they were not allowed to take the Indian national flag inside the Motera Stadium is viral on social media. It is being said that the Tricolour has been banned in the stadium which is named after the PM.
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India Today Fact Check
Gujarat Cricket Association confirmed to AFWA that there is no ban on the Tricolour inside the Narendra Modi Stadium. Not flags but flag poles/rods were asked to be kept outside owing to security reasons.
The world's largest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad, Gujarat was renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium and inaugurated on February 24 by President Ram Nath Kovind. The renaming of the stadium after PM Modi took many by surprise and raised several political eyebrows. The stadium also hosted its first international match, between India and England, on the day of the inauguration.
In this context, a video showing a group of cricket fans alleging that they were not allowed to take the Indian national flag inside the Motera Stadium is viral on social media. It is being said that the Tricolour has been banned in the stadium which is named after the PM.
The caption in Hindi to one such video translates as, "Cricket fans angry after the ban on entry with the national flag at Modi Stadium..."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim along with the video is misleading. Gujarat Cricket Association confirmed to us that there is no ban on the Tricolour inside the Narendra Modi stadium. Flags were allowed even during the February 24 match.
The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here, here, and here.
AFWA PROBE
While investigating the video, we noticed the logo of VTV, a Gujarat-based digital publication on the video in question. The logo of VTV news is also visible on the mike held by the anchor in the video. With the help of a keyword search, we found a longer version of the same video uploaded on VTV's YouTube channel on February 24, 2021.
We also found a text report by VTV carrying a screengrab from the same video in circulation.
According to the report, a group of cricket fans who had reached the Narendra Modi stadium to witness its first Test match on February 24 was disappointed after they were denied entry. However, the report had not provided any further details regarding the issues.
We then reached out to the VTV office in Ahmedabad for better clarity on the matter. Narendra Rathod, the sports reporter of VTV who was present at the Narendra Modi Stadium during the time the video in question was shot, confirmed to AFWA that though the Indian flags were initially stopped by some security officers citing security reasons, they were later allowed inside.
"It is true that there was a small agitation in front of the Motera Stadium after a few security officers at the main gate denied entry to Indian flags into the stadium. They did this citing security reasons. Later, higher officials arrived at the spot and clarified that while the flag can be taken inside, the flag poles/rods have to be kept outside. The issue was hence resolved, and everyone carried their flags inside for the match," Rathod clarified.
AFWA also spoke to Anil Patel, Joint Secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association. Rubbishing the viral claim regarding a ban on Indian flags at the new stadium, Anil said, "There is no ban on any national flag at the Narendra Modi Stadium. We allowed flags and banners inside the stadium for the February 24 match but for security reasons, we cannot allow heavy pipes or rods that are usually attached to the flags. Such rods can hurt somebody, so that is only a precautionary measure."
We also spoke to a few cricket fans who attended the February 24 test match at the Narendra Modi stadium.
"There was no restriction for the entry of the Tiranga inside the stadium. Security officers were asking us to remove the rods from the flags before entering the ground. Throughout the match, we could see people waving flags and it was a great experience inside the new stadium," said Partha Dharmendra Bhatt, a businessman from Ahmedabad who went to saw the first international match at the newly revamped Narendra Modi Stadium.
Jayesh Chauhan, who works with VTV, had also attended the match along with his friends on February 24. Jayesh also confirmed to us that though there was confusion between the security staff and fans initially, later the issue was resolved by senior officers, and the flags were allowed inside.
We also found Indian national flags being waved by the audience in a match highlights video from February 24 uploaded by BCCI on its official website.
Hence, the claim that the Indian national flag is banned at the newly inaugurated Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is misleading.
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