IIT Bombay, one of India's prestigious institutes, has issued a clarification after being mocked by social media users for using "fake photo" of the Indian national flag in its Facebook cover image ahead of Independence Day. The cover image was changed a week ago. It shows the lush green ground in front of the main building of IIT Bombay, with the flag visible on top as part of central government's 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. Many Facebook users made fun of the image.
"Quite clearly the flag is edited on the picture," said a user. "It's time for IIT to start course on Graphic Designing," said another.
"It's perfectly fine if you don't put the National Flag on your cover photo, but this edited photo just to show you are patriotic is really bogus. Sad to see this from my university," one of the comments on the photo read.
The cover image on IIT Bombay's Facebook page, updated on August 8, received more than 3,200 reactions and 419 comments. It has also been shared 762 times.
Now, after the trolling, the institute said on its Facebook page, "The picture of the IIT Bombay Main Building with a flag was a depiction to commemorate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and not an actual photo. Our goal was to create the spirit of the Mahotsav. We regret the confusion this may have caused."
As part of the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' (tricolour at every home) campaign, the central government had appealed to people to display the national flag in their homes between August 13-15.
News agency PTI said on Monday that the campaign helped boost demand for flag makers and traders witnessed a surge in order and sales of the national flag.
