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| - Fact Check: Truth of the flag hoisted at Red Fort by protesting farmers
Calling it a Black Day for India, several Twitter and Facebook users claimed that the Khalistani flag was raised at Red Fort. India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that it was not a Khalistani flag but the Nishan Sahib, a religious flag of Sikhs, which was raised at Red Fort.
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India Today Fact Check
It was not a Khalistani flag but the Nishan Sahib, a religious flag of Sikhs, which was raised at Red Fort. Nishan Sahib has the ‘khanda’ (two-edged dagger) symbol, while Khalistani flags also have ‘Khalistan’ written on them.
The two-month-long farmers’ agitation in the National Capital Region reached its climax on Republic Day when some protesters stormed the Red Fort and hoisted a flag. Soon after, netizens began debating the nature of the flag.
Calling it a Black Day for India, several Twitter and Facebook users claimed that the Khalistani flag was raised at Red Fort. Some claimed the national flag was taken off and farmers hoisted their flag in place of the Tricolour.
Khalistani Flag hoisted on Red Fort.. BlACK DAY FOR INDIA .. https://t.co/Rz5peVQrHC — Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) January 26, 2021
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that it was not a Khalistani flag but the Nishan Sahib, a religious flag of Sikhs, which was raised at Red Fort. Nishan Sahib has the ‘khanda’ (two-edged dagger) symbol, while Khalistani flags also have ‘Khalistan’ written on them.
The archived versions of the posts are saved here, here and here.
Was the Tricolour replaced by protesters?
We carefully observed the ANI video which is being shared the most on social media by netizens discussing the incident. In the video, a person is seen climbing a pole and hoisting a flag. But the pole did not have any flag from the beginning. The person was not seen removing any flag in the video either.
#WATCH A protestor hoists a flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi#FarmLaws #RepublicDay pic.twitter.com/Mn6oeGLrxJ — ANI (@ANI) January 26, 2021
The main Tricolour at the topmost pole at Red Fort remained untouched. This can also be seen in the ANI video.
To further confirm the incident, we spoke to India Today correspond Navjot Kaur who was present at Red Fort during the incident. Navjot confirmed that she had not seen any person removing a Tricolour at Red Fort. “The pole was empty and the person just climbed it and fixed the flag,” she said.
Was it a Khalistani flag?
Zooming in on the flag in the ANI video, we found the colour of the flag is light yellow and it has a ‘khanda’ printed on it. ‘Khanda’ is an emblem used in Sikhism, which comprise a double-edged sword, chakra and two single-edged swords. This emblem was introduced during Guru Gobind Singh’s time.
To further confirm about the flag seen in the ANI video, India Today spoke to Harinder Pal Singh, a Sikh scholar and senior member of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. Singh first condemned the incident saying, “We do not support the incident that happened at Red Fort and we think it was not right to unfurl any religious flag at Red Fort.”
At the same time, he confirmed to India Today that the flag hoisted at Red Fort was the Nishan Sahib and not the Khalistan flag. “I have watched it carefully and it is clearly the Nishan Sahib, a symbol of Sikh spirituality, which was hoisted on Red Fort. It is not a Khalistan flag,” Singh said.
India Today correspondent Navjot Kaur who was present at Red Fort also confirmed that it was the Nishan Sahib. She also said that apart from Nishan Sahib, flags related to the farmers’ movement were also seen at Red Fort.
What is Nishan Sahib?
Nishan Sahib is a light yellow-coloured flag that is hoisted on every gurudwara, except those of Nanaksarias. It was introduced by Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh Guru who militarised the community in the early 17th century and fought his first battle with Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. That version of the Nishan Sahib was without an emblem.
Later, the ‘khanda’ symbol was introduced during Guru Gobind Singh's time. The colour of Nishan Sahib can also be saffron or blue. Khalistan supporters also use the Nishan Sahib as their symbol.
The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement that began in the 1970s. Khalistan flags used by its supporters usually have ‘Khalistan’ printed on them. It can come with or without the image of ‘khanda’ and in various colours yellow, saffron or blue.
This is not the first time the Sikh religious flag has been hoisted at Red Fort. According to Sikh scholars, Baba Baghel Singh of Singh Krora Misl confederacy camped in Delhi and entered the Red Fort in 1783 with his troops during the reign of Shah Alam II and took over its Diwan-e-Aam and flew the Nishan Sahib at the fort.
There were several flags carried by different organisations participating in the January 26 protests. Social media too is filled with claims and counter-claims. We cannot fact-check each and every flag seen at the protest site. But fact-checking the most controversial incident of hoisting a flag at Red Fort, it can be concluded that it was not a Khalistan flag but the Sikh religious flag Nishan Sahib that was unfurled at the site. Also, no Tricolour was removed during the incident.
UPDATE
After this story was published on January 26, several other videos have surfaced on social media claiming that the Khalistani flag was hoisted at Red Fort. We hereby clarify that in this story, we have fact-checked only one particular video that shows a man climbing a pole and hoisting a flag at Red Fort. This story is not about any other video or flag.
(With inputs from Harmeet Shah Singh)
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