Oppo faces protest after Indian flag tearing charge: All you need to know

The Noida unit of Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Oppo was besieged by protests for hours on Tuesday after workers alleged that one of their senior colleagues from China tore and threw down the Indian National Flag in the factory premises, as reported earlier.

Here's what happened.

The incident took place on Monday night. A senior staffer from China allegedly tore the national flag in the factory premise. Workers said that the official dumped the National Flag, hoisted inside the factory, in a dustbin, after tearing it.

Uttar Pradesh police have started investigating the incident.

“We are getting the CCTV footage of the place where the alleged incident occurred and will file charges under the Flag Acts,” Dinesh Yadav, superintendent of police, Noida, told Business Standard.

Police was deployed to control the crowd and took up the case later, after a group of workers lodged a complaint against the official concerned. 

The incident had an adverse effect on manufacturing activity at the Oppo unit because of the protests. Several other offices in the vicinity also shut down anticipating trouble.

Sources said company officials reached out to the chief minister’s office in Lucknow, seeking help, as the situation remained tense for hours. A group of workers had reached the hotel where the Chinese official was staying, but were removed from the area in the afternoon.

The facility at Noida, Sector 63, was set up recently. Oppo manufactures handsets here for local consumption.

Hoisting and use (including misuse and insult) of the National Flag is regulated by the Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950, the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, and the Flag Code of India.