Don’t stick flag in your hat in India

When the Base Realignment and Closure Committee members were in town, I watched with interest the scene along the road.

Hundreds of people stood along University Avenue in Grand Forks, displaying the U.S. flag in various ways, shapes and sizes to show their support for Grand Forks Air Force Base. A few of the pictures were published by the Herald the next day.

This use of the flag for a public cause or an expression of a certain viewpoint reminded me of the Indian freedom struggle in the early 20th century, when thousands of youths laid down their lives upholding the tricolor. (It has three colors: saffron, green and white, which, scientifically, is not considered a color).

But the crucial issue that came up for discussion and the question I have been pondering since then is this: If I were in India, could I paint my national flag on my face, as was done by many in Grand Forks last week? Could I sport a head cap that displays the tricolor? Do I have the freedom to use it as a shirt or trouser?

The answer to all of these, on pain of arrest, is, “No.”

Certainly, I would not like to put the tricolor on my shoes, as a few enthusiastic ones were doing that day. But I would prefer to have the freedom of my friends here in the United States to use the national flag, as long as the flag is being “respected,” and there is no desecration.

In fact, this freedom enjoyed by citizens in the United States (in the name of freedom of speech) very often is talked about by Indians. They mention it every time they are prevented by law from using the tricolor in the manner in which they want – and remember, here I am not talking about desecrating the flag or showing disrespect.

In fact, not until quite recently were Indians in India allowed to hoist the national flag at all, except on certain days of national importance. But that, at least, changed on Jan. 26, 2002, Indian Republic Day. The credit for this change that now permits citizens to fly the flag at their homes goes to a young industrialist named Navin Jindal, who fought a legal battle for many years demanding that flying the flag was his fundamental right.

Jindal, who now is a member of India’s Parliament, very often has been quoted as saying that he got inspired as a student in the United States to pursue his right to fly the Indian flag.

Jindal got his first exposure to America’s “flag culture” while getting his master’s degree in business at the University of Texas at Dallas. As president of the university’s student government, Jindal loved to display the Indian national flag in his office and room. But upon his return to India, he was prevented from flying the tricolor atop his house and his factory in the industrial township of Raigarh.

Soon, he approached a court, stating that flying the flag was his fundamental right. Ultimately, the Supreme Court of the Indian government agreed and gave this freedom to the people of the country.

But still, we are far away from the much broader freedom that is enjoyed by people in the United States. As other court cases continue, a national debate is going on, too, in which people give their own opinions for and against this freedom. The focal point very often is the United States and the manner in which, for better or worse, Americans use or abuse their freedom to fly the flag.