Operation Safed Sagar faces backlash over incorrect tricolour draping, army veteran demands apology

Operation Safed Sagar (Pic/X)

A scene from Netflix's Operation Safed Sagar: The Untold Story of the Kargil War has drawn criticism from an Indian Army veteran over the depiction of an officer's coffin. Colonel Vembu Shankar alleged that the Tricolour was incorrectly draped and urged the makers to digitally correct the scene, suspend its streaming and issue an apology.

Veteran army officer demands apology

Colonel Vembu Shankar, an Indian Army veteran, has raised concerns over a scene in the Netflix web series Operation Safed Sagar: The Untold Story of the Kargil War. He noted the incorrect draping of the Tricolour on a coffin in a scene involving Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja (Siddharth). He shared a picture of the scene featuring Mihir Ahuja as Flying Officer C.H. Bal Reddy, aka Baldy, and Abhay Verma as Flying Officer Rajpal Singh Dhaliwal, aka Dhali, carrying Ahuja's coffin as pallbearers. The veteran alleged that although the coffin is draped in the Indian National Flag, the way the Tricolour has been placed is inconsistent with the Flag Code of India.

While sharing the picture, he wrote, "This is a screengrab from the web series Operation Safed Sagar S1 E4 35:30. The scene depicts pallbearers carrying the coffin of Sqn Leader Ajay Ahuja. The coffin has a notice which reads Head and has the service particulars of the officer. The coffin is draped in the Indian National Flag. The green portion of the flag is seen. This is an incorrect draping of the Indian National Flag on a coffin as per the Flag Code of India."

He further continued, "The saffron should have been towards the head. I am shocked how the authorities at the service Headquarters and the military advisors have overlooked this fact. Can someone in the Air HQ connect with the producers to digitally alter/edit the colour and until then suspend the screening on the streaming platform Netflix and also issue an apology in mainstream media."

More about Operation Safed Sagar

Operation Safed Sagar depicts the Indian Air Force's 47-day historic mission to drive out Pakistani forces from Indian positions along the Line of Control. The series stars Jimmy Shergill, Siddharth, Vinay Pathak, Manu Rishi Chadha, Abhay Verma, Arnav Bhasin, Adil Hussain, Sanjay Suri, Barun Sobti, Dia Mirza, Prajakta Koli and others.