Sanctity of national flag under threat by authorities
According to law, disobeying the national flag can carry up to three years in prison.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - A national flag is the identity of any nation as the green and white flag of Pakistan represents the dignity of every person residing in the country, but the sanctity of the Pakistan’s national flag is not as valued as it should be.
Unfortunately, the national flag is not being taken care of as it is hoisted in a weary and dirty condition on all government buildings and other places, which is a crime as per law. Sadly, this heinous crime is being committed all over the country while no one is raising any questions over it.
Pakistan’s "Sitara-o-Hilal" flag is a matter of honor for each and every citizen of the country no matter what religion they belong to. People in Pakistan love to get their cars, vehicles, furniture painted in the colours of the national flag, but some ignorant people as well as authorities are failing badly to honour the dignity it holds.
There is no proper attention given to hoist or replace the flags after a certain period of time when it gets dirty or torn. The negligence on part of the authorities that no one bothers to replace it when needed after hoisting once on a national day is highly condemnable.
If you notice, all government buildings in major cities like Islamabad, Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi, are graced with a dirty, washed away piece of cloth hanging on the poll where apparently the national flag is supposed to be swaying, and sometimes there is just a pole without anything hung to it.
It is a matter of honour for us to have “Flag Protocols 2002” as part of regulations, which provides complete procedure for national flag protocol that restricts hoisting of flag on government buildings at night.
According to flag protocol, the national flag should be hoisted at sunrise and lifted before sunset. Parliament is the only building in Pakistan where the national flag can be hoisted at night, but artificial lighting is also required on the sides of the flag in that case. The national flag is never tuned except for a national tragedy.
Under the flag protocols, measurements of the flags placed on tables in buildings, cars and offices are set.
Four sizes of flags are set at the national events. If the flag is 9 feet wide, the width must be 6.14 feet. If the length is 10 feet, the width will be 6.23 feet, and if length is18 feet, then the width should be 12 feet. Also, if the length is 21 feet then the width must be 14 feet.
According to law, disrespecting the national flag can carry up to three years in prison along with a fine. Not implementing the flag protocols also means disrespecting the national flag, but to date no one has been punished for not following the flag’s protocols.
By Shaheer Shaz
