

{"id":73087,"date":"2020-08-14T21:10:24","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T15:40:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=73087"},"modified":"2020-08-15T12:54:19","modified_gmt":"2020-08-15T07:24:19","slug":"sdpi-muslim-community-falsely-blamed-for-placing-flag-atop-shankaracharya-statue-in-sringeri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/sdpi-muslim-community-falsely-blamed-for-placing-flag-atop-shankaracharya-statue-in-sringeri\/","title":{"rendered":"SDPI, Muslim community falsely blamed for placing &#8216;flag&#8217; atop Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The temple town of Sringeri in Karnataka&#8217;s Chikkamagluru saw the appearance of a &#8216;flag&#8217; atop Shankaracharya statue on August 13. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state leaders were quick to declare that the flag belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). BJP legislator representing Chikkamagaluru constituency <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CTRavi_BJP\/status\/1293806793433313280\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CT Ravi<\/a> and BJP MP <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/8yJU8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shobha Karandlage<\/a> claimed that SDPI &#8220;planted&#8221; its flag on the statue. BJP spokesperson <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/pO0LQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malavika Avinash<\/a> asserted the same. Adi Shankaracharya is an 8th-century philosopher of Hinduism.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73113 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T183653.473-990x518.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>SDPI has been in the news since the August 11 Bengaluru riots where three people were killed in police firing. Multiple FIRs have been filed against <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/cities\/bangalore\/bengaluru-violence-7-firs-filed-16-accused-identified-as-sdpi-members-6553251\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">300 persons<\/a> including 16 members of SDPI, linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI).<\/p>\n<h4>Police statement refutes BJP&#8217;s claims<\/h4>\n<p>Chikkamagaluru police issued a press release on August 14 which states that neither the piece of cloth found atop Shankaracharya statue belongs to SDPI nor is the accused associated with the party.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sringeri banner cloth case details <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ijJZ4bP3jg\">pic.twitter.com\/ijJZ4bP3jg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SP Chikkamagaluru (@spckmofficial) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spckmofficial\/status\/1294200886617444354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>According to the press release, a 28-year-old man took a banner from Sringeri Jamia Mosque used during Eid Milad festival and placed the same over a pavilion on the statue of Shankaracharya. The man was under the influence of alcohol. On the intervening night of August 12-13, he picked a banner from the mosque to take cover from heavy rainfall. A CCTV footage made public by the police shows him covering himself with the banner.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The accused who caught on camera in sringeri banner case. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EC3EUbCEYZ\">pic.twitter.com\/EC3EUbCEYZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 SP Chikkamagaluru (@spckmofficial) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spckmofficial\/status\/1294203743383085056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;During the investigation, it was also found that the banner does not belong to any political party or organization. This person does not belong to any political party or any organization. It was found that this act is not premeditated and was not done on purpose,&#8221; added the police statement.<\/p>\n<p>A visual comparison of the banner and SDPI&#8217;s flag is sufficient to debunk viral claims. Unlike the party flag, the banner is majorly blue in colour.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73128 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909-300x140.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909-1024x476.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909-768x357.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-1-e1597417145909-990x460.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The banner also carries a picture of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/place\/Al+Masjid+an+Nabawi\/@24.451884,39.5872456,13z\/data=!4m8!1m2!2m1!1smadina+masjid+saudi+arabia!3m4!1s0x15bdbfaa728d4c15:0x39c9cca9e8b98e2f!8m2!3d24.467197!4d39.6111545?hl=en-GB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Madina Masjid<\/a> (Al Masjid an Nabawi), Saudi Arabia, which is considered to be the last mosque built by Muhammed, the prophet of Islam.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73130 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Al-Masjid-an-Nabawi-990x518.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>False Muslim spin given to the story<\/h4>\n<p>A report in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenewsminute.com\/article\/drunk-man-mistakenly-draped-flag-sringeri-shankaracharya-statue-cops-130739\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The News Minute<\/a> identifies the accused as Milind. Chikkamagaluru police also said in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=W0ZYAh-lzT8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">press conference<\/a> that the man taken into custody is Milind Manohar. However, Oneindia Kannada <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/A0fUP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">claimed<\/a> that the police arrested a man named Rafiq. Taking its cue, right-wing propaganda website <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/OpIndia_in\/status\/1294187426311622656\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">OpIndia<\/a> said that Rafiq and Sahil were arrested while SDPI was accused of conspiracy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73100 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/download-87.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"592\" height=\"712\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/download-87.jpg 592w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/download-87-249x300.jpg 249w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 592px) 100vw, 592px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>OpIndia&#8217;s article was tweeted by its editor Nupur Sharma drawing close to 2,000 retweets.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Shringeri: Adi Shankaracharya statue draped with Islamic flag, two youths Rafiq and Sahil detained, locals allege SDPI link <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dAK15yJTEN\">https:\/\/t.co\/dAK15yJTEN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nupur J Sharma (@UnSubtleDesi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UnSubtleDesi\/status\/1294133633620389890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Organiser, the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.organiser.org\/Encyc\/2020\/8\/13\/Jihadis-drape-Islamic-flag-on-Shankaracharya-statue-in-holy-city-of-Shringeri.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asserted<\/a> that &#8220;jihadists&#8221; draped an Islamic flag over Shankaracharya&#8217;s statue. It also claimed that Rafiq and Sahil were arrested by the police.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73106 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1404\" height=\"449\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e.png 1404w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e-300x96.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e-1024x327.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e-768x246.png 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e-990x317.png 990w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/8624e967-d9bf-4066-a9e5-b3433566012e-1320x422.png 1320w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1404px) 100vw, 1404px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Twitter handle <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TIinExile\/status\/1294158709619220481\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">True Indology<\/a> shared Organiser&#8217;s report drawing 2,400 retweets as of this writing. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mvmeet\/status\/1294140309094326272\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mahesh Vikram Hegde<\/a>, founder of fake news platform Postcard News, promoted identical narrative.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73114 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473-768x402.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T184129.473-990x518.jpg 990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>SP Chikkamagaluru informed Alt News that the police was investigating suspects however Milind was the one arrested. The press release attached earlier states that interrogation of suspects and investigation of CCTV footage led the cops to the accused. Milind admitted to placing the banner under the influence of alcohol.<\/p>\n<p>Following the police&#8217;s statement, OpIndia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opindia.com\/2020\/08\/karnataka-shringeri-islamic-flag-adi-shankara-statue-drunk-man-arrested\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">published another story<\/a> reporting that Milind was arrested.<\/p>\n<h4>Misleading media reports<\/h4>\n<p>A premature report by <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/il6Gr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Asianet News<\/a>, devoid of police statement, had declared that the banner found atop Shankaracharya&#8217;s statue was the SDPI flag. Interestingly, the channel had also aired visuals of the banner which show that it isn&#8217;t the SDPI flag.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73101 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-e1597417815259.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"510\" height=\"474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-e1597417815259.png 510w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/VISUALS-OF-THE-BANNER-AIRED-BY-ASIANET-NEWS-e1597417815259-300x279.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Deccan Herald <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/QDsfH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reported<\/a>, &#8220;Unidentified miscreants allegedly covered the gopura housing sage Shankaracharya\u2019s statue in the town with the flag of Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on Thursday morning.&#8221; This report also does not carry the police&#8217;s statement but only allegations made by BJP members and Hindu outfits.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73102 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/6e630f88-a674-4199-953a-2b4fe3d4728a.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"936\" height=\"216\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/6e630f88-a674-4199-953a-2b4fe3d4728a.png 936w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/6e630f88-a674-4199-953a-2b4fe3d4728a-300x69.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/6e630f88-a674-4199-953a-2b4fe3d4728a-768x177.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A report in <a href=\"http:\/\/archive.is\/4uMs4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The New Indian Express<\/a> also declared that the flag belonged to SDPI.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73104 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/583eff97-672a-4856-b639-b54b342c6330.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"934\" height=\"504\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/583eff97-672a-4856-b639-b54b342c6330.png 934w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/583eff97-672a-4856-b639-b54b342c6330-300x162.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/583eff97-672a-4856-b639-b54b342c6330-768x414.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 934px) 100vw, 934px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>An incident where a man in an inebriated state placed a banner from a mosque atop the pavilion of the Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri was blown out of proportion by BJP leaders. Misleading media reports further legitimised false claims that the banner was SDPI&#8217;s flag. Oneindia and OpIndia introduced a sectarian spin to the incident. The person arrested does not belong to the Muslim community unlike claimed by these outlets.<\/p>\n<p>The state capital witnessed riots triggered by a derogatory Facebook post just days ago. Unverified news or sectarian misinformation published by the media has the ability to reignite religious tensions. This was the second instance when OpIndia promoted misinformation in the aftermath of Bengaluru riots. The outlet had earlier carried an erroneous report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/hindustan-times-publishes-unverified-claim-about-60000-rioters-in-bengaluru-violence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hindustan Times<\/a> which claimed that a strong mob of &#8216;60,000&#8217; had gathered during the violence. Police and eyewitness accounts suggest that the figure was at least 15 times less. While HT subsequently updated its report, the OpIndia article continues to carry false information. Irresponsible reports that cannot be corroborated can have serious repercussions and should not see the light of day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The temple town of Sringeri in Karnataka&#8217;s Chikkamagluru saw the appearance of a &#8216;flag&#8217; atop Shankaracharya statue on August 13. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state leaders were quick to declare that the flag belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). BJP legislator representing Chikkamagaluru constituency CT Ravi and BJP MP Shobha Karandlage claimed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":73140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,17,55],"tags":[],"an_content_type":[],"coauthors":[141],"class_list":["post-73087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics","category-religion","fact_checks_claim_type-viral-photos"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SDPI, Muslim community falsely blamed for placing &#039;flag&#039; atop Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri - Alt News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SDPI, Muslim community falsely blamed for placing &#039;flag&#039; atop Shankaracharya statue in Sringeri - Alt News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The temple town of Sringeri in Karnataka&#8217;s Chikkamagluru saw the appearance of a &#8216;flag&#8217; atop Shankaracharya statue on August 13. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state leaders were quick to declare that the flag belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). BJP legislator representing Chikkamagaluru constituency CT Ravi and BJP MP Shobha Karandlage claimed [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/sdpi-muslim-community-falsely-blamed-for-placing-flag-atop-shankaracharya-statue-in-sringeri\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Alt News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/altnews.in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-14T15:40:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-15T07:24:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/08\/Untitled-design-2020-08-14T210130.920.jpg?resize=1200%2C628&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pooja Chaudhuri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Pooja_Chaudhuri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AltNews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pooja Chaudhuri\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.altnews.in\\\/english-clone-2026\\\/sdpi-muslim-community-falsely-blamed-for-placing-flag-atop-shankaracharya-statue-in-sringeri\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.altnews.in\\\/english-clone-2026\\\/sdpi-muslim-community-falsely-blamed-for-placing-flag-atop-shankaracharya-statue-in-sringeri\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pooja Chaudhuri\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.altnews.in\\\/english-clone-2026\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/679783e6af2a013b375fccf2865a44ba\"},\"headline\":\"SDPI, Muslim community falsely blamed for placing &#8216;flag&#8217; 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