SC seeks Centre's reply on green flags ban plea

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a reply from the Centre on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi seeking a ban on green flags with crescent and star that resembles national flag of Pakistan.

On April 17, Rizvi filed a petition in the apex court demanding a ban on the flag in India. He termed it "un-Islamic".

In his petition, Rizvi claimed that the flag which is identical to the flag of Pakistan creates communal strife when hoisted in Muslim areas.

"I am seeking a direction from the Supreme Court for an immediate ban on green flags with star and crescent on it, as this flag resembles the flag of Pakistan and the Muslim League," Rizvi told ANI.

Rizvi in his petition stated that the green flag with crescent and star owes its origins to the erstwhile political party, the All-India Muslim League which was founded by Nawaz Waqar Ul-Malik and Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1906 in Dhaka.

In the present day, it is being used by Indian Muslims as an Islamic flag.

Even the national flag of Pakistan, which was adopted in 1947, after its partition from India is a green flag with a white crescent moon and five-rayed star at its centre and a vertical white stripe at the hoist side, which is based on the All-India Muslim League's flag.