The world’s largest cricket stadium at Motera in Ahmedabad, Gujarat was renamed the Narendra Modi Stadium and inaugurated on February 24 by President Ram Nath Kovind. The renaming of the stadium after PM Modi took many by surprise and raised several political eyebrows. The stadium also hosted its first international match, between India and England, on the day of the inauguration. Eversince the inauguration, a video showing a group of cricket fans alleging that they were not allowed to take the Indian national flag inside the Motera Stadium is viral on social media. It is being said that the Tricolour has been banned in the stadium which is named after the PM. The caption in Hindi to one such video translates as, “Cricket fans angry after the ban on entry with the national flag at Modi Stadium.” After a detailed study of the video, it is seen that on the top right corner of the video there is a logo mentioning VTV. On searching with the keyword, “VTV, Modi Stadium” on YouTube, it was found the full version of the viral video. The video was published by VTV, a Gujarati media organisation on February 24. The report told that the people who visited Modi stadium to watch the match on February 4 were angry for being denied entry to the stadium. No further information was provided in the report.
On contacting the sports reporter of VTV, Narendra Rathod, who was present in the stadium at the time of the match, said that, “Many Indian supporters brought the national flag in the match against England. At the gate, the guards denied entry with any object for security purposes, because of which small agitation happened in front of Motera stadium. But soon after the agitation, the officials of the Gujarat Cricket Association arrived and clarified that the flags can be taken in, it is only the flag poles or rods which need to be kept outside. Thus, the issue was resolved.” He also confirmed that the authorities have told that no restrictions will be made on bringing the national flag from the next match. Anil Patel, Joint Secretary, Gujarat Cricket Association, also told India Today that the viral claim is fake. He said, “There is no ban on any national flag at the Narendra Modi Stadium. We allowed flags and banners inside the stadium for the February 24 match but for security reasons, we cannot allow heavy pipes or rods that are usually attached to the flags. Such rods can hurt somebody, so that is only a precautionary measure.”
Hence, the claim that the Indian national flag is banned at the newly inaugurated Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad is misleading.
