Tricolour on 207-ft pole at universities for ‘strong India’

ABVP activists participate in a protest rally in Bengaluru on Thursday with a 200-foot-long flag demanding the arrest of those who allegedly raised anti-India slogans at Delhi’s JNU. (Photo: PTI)

In a move aimed at giving a fillip to nationalist sentiments across the country, all 46 Central universities have been directed to fly the tricolour atop a 207-foot-high flag mast “prominently and proudly” on their campuses to signify a “strong India”. The first one will be hoisted at Jawaharlal Nehru University.

This “unanimous” decision was adopted in a resolution at a meeting of their vice-chancellors chaired by HRD minister Smriti Irani at Surajkund in Faridabad on Thursday. The resolution said: “At a central place in every university, the national flag will be flown prominently and proudly.”

The decision comes amid a raging row over the arrest of JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar on sedition charges for being present at a campus event at which anti-India slogans were raised.

The move drew a sharp reaction from the Congress, which said nationalism doesn’t mean hoisting the flag and singing Vande Mataram, it should be reflected in a belief in the Constitution. CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat also attacked the government over the issue.