Mild tension prevailed at the Exhibition Grounds in Nampally when VHP activists tried to disrupt an event organised by COVA at Gandhi Darshan hall on the premises on Tuesday.
COVA, in collaboration with several civil society groups, organised joint celebrations of Independence Day of India and Pakistan. Raising slogans, the of VHP activists attempted to enter the premises, but the police foiled their attempts and dispersed them.
Protestors, however, squatted in front of the Exhibition Grounds main gate and raised slogans denouncing the attitude of COVA in organising such an event. They alleged that organisers hoisted Pakistan national flag at the venue. Police officials later took the protesters into custody and released them later. In a press release, COVA executive director Mazher Hussain clarified that such programmes were organised in India and Pakistan and condemned the false propaganda that they had hoisted Pakistan flag. “We have not hoisted flags of any country during the event,” he maintained.
