A youth has been detained by police in Harlakhi in Bihar after a video showing him abusing the national flag emerged on social media. The accused in the footage is identified as Mohammed Hasmtullah, the son of Junaid Ansari, the head of Harlakhi Panchayat. The police have taken him into custody and are presently probing the matter.
In the video that has gone viral on social media, the tiranga can be seen buying on the floor. Mohammed Hasmtullah was kicking the burning national flag with his feet. After kicking the flag, he turns around, when another person says that what he is doing is not correct, after which the video is cut.
ये वीडियो बिहार के मधुबनी जिले का है। 15 अगस्त को तिरंगे को जलाने वाला यह लौंडा स्थानीय मुखिया जुनैद का बेटा है।
— अ स अजीत (@JhaAjitk) August 18, 2023
फैक्टचेक करना @zoo_bear pic.twitter.com/yxy1D1QMP9
Reportedly, the clip is from the morning of 15 August, Independence Day. When the video emerged on social media, it caused outrage on social media, after which the police took action.
Mohammed Hasmtullah runs a steel fabrication shop in the village, and the incident took place in his shop. However, he has denied disrespecting the national flag, claiming that he has been framed by his staff. After the video emerged, another video emerged where he gave an explanation of the situation.
Hasmtullah claimed that the incident is from 14th August morning, not 15th August. He said that when the workers were cleaning the shop, the flag fell into oil. At that time he was not at the shop as he has gone out for a cup of tea. He further claimed that when he returned to the shop, he saw that the head worker Sanjay Mandal had asked the staff to torch the flag and it was already burning.
Mohammed Hasmtullah further claimed that he tried to extinguish the fire, but he used his feet to do this as his hands will burn if he tries firefighting with his hands. This was recorded by Sanjay Mandal and he posted it on social media to blame him, Hasmtullah alleged. He also alleged that Sanjay Mandal is playing games with him.
But Sanjay Mandal has refuted the allegation, who insisted that the incident took place on Independence Day and Hasmtullah himself had burnt the flag. He said that when he reached the shop on 15th August morning, he and another youth Altab saw that the shopowner was burning the national flag.
Talking to local media, Altab confirmed the version of Sanjay Mandal. He added that Hasmtullah said that he was burning the flag on the instructions of his father. It is also being pointed out that if Mohammed Hasmtullah was really trying to extinguish the fire, he could have used water instead of kicking it. Morever, from the video, it didn’t look like that he was trying to put out the fire.
After the video emerged, Chandan Kumar, a social worker from Harlakhi, wrote to the police informing them about the incident and demanding action. Following this the police took the accused into custody for questioning.
However, according to the accused’s family, Mohammed Hasmtullah is allegedly mentally ill and he is receiving treatment for the same. He also supported the version narrated by his son.
His father Junaid Ansari claimed, “My son is mentally ill. He is undergoing treatment from Ranchi. My staff cleared the garbage and set fire to the garbage dump in my welding shop. The flag was also burning in it. My boy tried to extinguish it. This is being made viral in the wrong way.”
Neha Kumari, Sub-Divisional Police Office (SDPO), Benipatti informed, “The youngster accused of insulting the tricolour, Hasmtullah is being interrogated by taking him into custody. Appropriate action will be taken after looking into the situation.”
