BJP leader booked over Lulu Mall-Pakistan flag row; manager gets job back

Lulu Mall's marketing manager posted on Linkedin that she lost her job because of misinformation. Later, she announced she has been asked to rejoin.

The Karnataka Police filed an FIR against BJP worker Shakunthala for sharing an allegedly distorted photo of Kochi's Lulu Mall claiming that the mall authorities displayed a bigger Pakistan flag and all the other flags including India's were smaller. While the BJP leader tagged Karnataka deputy CM DK Shivakumar and suggested that this happened in Bengaluru Lulu Mall, the misleading photo was from Kerala's Lulu Mall. Outrage on social media led to the resignation of the marketing manager of Lulu Mall who was reinstated after fact-checking sites reported that the viral photograph was misleading.

Lulu Mall Kochi was at the centre of a controversy after it was alleged that the Pakistan flag they put up was bigger than the Indian flag. (Source-Twitter)

The photograph showing a bigger Pakistan flag was shared by many social media users, including Shakunthala, while fact-checking reports claimed that all the flags were of the same size but the photo was taken from an angle that the Pakistan flag looked bigger than the rest.

The BJP leader reacted to the FIR and said when the people of Karnataka are suffering from drought and electricity problems, the Congress government is wasting time filing cases against BJP workers without any reason.

'I hold a profound love for my country'

Lulu Mall's marketing manager Athira Nampiathiri's post on LinkedIn intensified the debate as she said she was left without job "because of baseless falsehoods and social media sensationalism".

" What transpired as a simple gesture of support for sportsmanship, using flags as decor, morphed into a nightmarish distortion that none of us could have fathomed. We are staunch, proud Indians, deeply committed to our companies with unparalleled devotion. However, the reckless chatter and unverified reports swirling on social media carry the potential to devastate one's integrity and livelihood," Athira wrote.

"My loss is a loss but let no one get affected because of this hate," Athira wrote expecting that her post will also go as viral as the morphed image.

The controversy started on Tuesday and Athira stepped down on Wednesday. On Friday, she made another post announcing that she was invited to rejoin the Lulu Group after the viral photo was established as fake. "Thank you, everyone, for your unwavering support. I am deeply honored by the unity we demonstrated in combating the spread of false information on social media. As a direct result of our collective efforts, I have been invited to rejoin at the earliest with Lulu Group," Athira posted.

MA Yusuf Ali is the chairman and managing director of Lulu Group. Lulu Malls are present in Kochi, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow and Hyderabad.