On Madhya Pradesh High Court's direction, man salutes tricolour 21 times with 'Bharat Mata ki jai' slogan at police station

Bhopal: Based on the Madhya Pradesh High Court's direction, a man accused of raising a pro-Pakistan slogan, reached a police station here on Tuesday and saluted the national flag 21 times by raising 'Bharat Mata ki jai' slogan.

The man, Faizan, was directed by the high court last week to salute the tricolour and raise the 'Bharat Mata ki jai' slogan on every first and fourth Tuesday of the month at the Misrod police station here.

"In compliance with the high court's directives, Faizan came to the police station and saluted the national flag for 21 times today, which is the fourth Tuesday of the month. The act was video-graphed and carried out in the presence of media," Misrod police station in-charge Manish Raj Bhadoriya told PTI.

The compliance report will be sent to the high court and this activity will continue till the end of the trial, he said.

Talking to PTI, Faizan said making reels and raising such (pro-Pakistan) was a big mistake and he was regretting it.

"Nobody should go against the country," he said, adding that he requests his friends not to make such reels.

Faizan alias Faizal was arrested after a case was registered against him at the Misrod police station in May this year under section 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was seen raising pro-Pakistan slogans in the video.

In the order issued on October 15, Justice D K Paliwal of the high court said the applicant may be released on bail by imposing some conditions which may enthuse in him a sense of responsibility and pride for the country in which he was born and living.

"He is openly shouting slogans against the country in which he was born and brought up," the HC had said.

As per the prosecution, the accused had shouted a pro-Pakistan slogan which amounted to promoting enmity between different groups and his act was prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony and national integration.