The ruling Congress Government captained by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants to have a flag of its own for the State of Karnataka like that of Jammu & Kashmir which enjoys special status under Article 370 of the Indian constitution. Siddaramaiah also defended his move by saying there is no constitutional provision against having own flag for the State. This move ahead of Assembly polls seen as a mere gimmick by the Government to appease a section of the people.
In view of this, Karnataka has formed a nine member committee headed by the Principal Secretary, department of Kannada and culture last month after a representation from noted Kannada writer and journalist Patil Puttappa, and social worker Bheemappa Gundappa Gadada who have requested the Government to design a separate flag for ‘Kannada Naadu’ and accord it legal standing.
The panel comprises secretaries to the departments of Personnel and Administrative Services, Home, law and Parliamentary Affairs, as also president of Kannada Sahitya Parishat, chairman of Kannada Development Authority, and vice-chancellor of Kannada University, Hampi, as its members.The Director of Department of Kannada and Culture will be the member secretary to the committee.
Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Tuesday sought to know if there was any provision in the Constitution which prohibits the State from having its own flag, “Is there any provision in the Constitution. Have you come across any provision in the ConstitutionIJ Did BJP people come across the provisionIJ Then why they are raisingIJ On taking the step ahead of the State Assembly polls, he said, “Election will be in the month of April-May not now, not tomorrow, not next month.”
Hitting out at the BJP, Siddaramaiah said, “Did BJP say they do not want flag for Karnataka StateIJ let them make a statement that ‘we do not want flag for Karnataka State’. The BJP always level such false allegation.”
The Siddaramaiah Government’s move to form a committee is being considered as a departure from the stand taken by the earlier BJP Government. The DV Sadananda Gowda led BJP Government in 2012 had informed the Karnataka High Court that it has not accepted the suggestions to declare the bi-colour Kannada flag as the State’s official flag, as having a separate flag would be “against the unity and integrity of the country.”
The move, coming months ahead of Assembly elections in 2018, marks a departure from the stand Karnataka had taken in 2012 when BJP was in office. The State Government had then told the Karnataka High Court that it had not accepted suggestions to declare the red-and-yellow Kannada flag the official State flag, as a separate flag would go against the “unity and integrity of the country”.
When the issue was raised in the assembly, then Kannada and culture minister Govind M Karjol had said: “The Flag Code does not allow flags for states. Our national flag is the symbol of integrity and sovereignty of our nation. If states have their separate flags, it could diminish the importance of the national flag. Besides, there are possibilities of it leading to narrow minded regional feelings.”
Meanwhile, K C Venugopal, Congress Karnataka in-charge, said there is only one flag, the national flag. “I will seek a clarification from the state government. We have only one flag and that is the national flag,” he said in Delhi.