‘Green flags with crescent, star hold no significance in Islam’

LUCKNOW: Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board Waseem Rizvi, who has filed a PIL petition in the Supreme Court against hoisting of green flags with crescent and star emblem, on Monday said such flags were un-Islamic and should be banned.

Hearing the petition, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the central government to present its view on the issue.

“Such flags are being hoisted in Muslim-dominated areas with impunity. The crescent and star in a green backdrop has never been a part of any Islamic practice and has no role or significance in Islam,” Rizvi said.

He said such flags were similar to that of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) and action should

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Presently, it is being used by Indian Muslims who are treating it as an Islamic flag.

WASEEM RIZVI, chairman, Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board (in a petition he filed in the SC)

be taken against people and organisations hoisting it as it belonged to an “enemy country”.

“I saw such flags on several buildings and religious structures during one of my visits to Mumbai,” Rizvi said, adding that such flags often triggered tension between Hindus and Muslims.

According to the petition filed by Rizvi, the green flag with a crescent and a star owes its origin to the Muslim League, founded by Nawaz Waqar Ul-Malik and Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1906.

“Presently, it is being used by Indian Muslims who are treating it as an Islamic flag,” the petition said.

Rizvi said the Indian Union Muslim League founded in 1948 had crescent and star in the left top corner.

“Pakistan, as an enemy country, has been responsible for a series of terror attacks on our country and promoting and propagating cross-border terrorism. Our country remains vulnerable to the hidden attacks by Pakistani intelligence agencies through their militant network which is active in our country,” he said.

“Hoisting of PML flags or those resembling it is not permitted in law. It affects the fundamental rights of the petitioner and society at large,” the PIL said.