 "Narendra Modi")
A controversy erupted on Friday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi autographed an Indian "flag" to be gifted to US President Barack Obama by celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, evoking sharp reactions, after which the government insisted it was not the national tricolour.
Social media was abuzz with the issue of Modi signing on the tricolour, which Khanna said he would hand over to Obama. Khanna had prepared the menu for the prime minister's dinner with Fortune 500 CEOs last night. The chef also displayed the signed piece of cloth to the media.
Government spokesman Frank Noronha denied the prime minister had signed the national flag and said it had not been confiscated as reported.
Noronha, director general (media and communication), Press Information Bureau, said in New Delhi the piece of cloth was a work of handicraft prepared by a differently-abled girl and the prime minister had autographed it on a compassionate basis. "The piece of cloth does not have white colour nor the wheel....It has been prepared by the girl with her toe and the prime minister was compassionate," he said.
He termed "absolutely false" that it had been confiscated.
The Indian Flag Code, 2002, states that putting any inscription upon the national flag is construed as disrespect to the it. It also states that lettering of any kind shall not be put on the tricolour.
