The man identified as Zakir allegedly pulled down the Israeli flag on May 12 and also recorded a video of the act, which was live-streamed on Instagram
NEW DELHI – A Muslim youth has been booked for reportedly pulling down an Israeli flag hoisted at the Secretariat building in Hyderabad for the Miss World 2025 pageant.
The man identified as Zakir allegedly pulled down the Israeli flag on May 12 and also recorded a video of the act, which was live-streamed on Instagram. Police booked Zakir after the video went viral.
Authorities restored the Israeli flag after the accused was booked.
However, on Friday, the same youth was once again spotted removing the Israeli flag, with the incident live-streamed again on Instagram. This has sparked a major controversy on social media.
An eyewitness tagged an X post to the Hyderabad Commissioner of Police CV Anand and the Hyderabad City Police. The message reads: “Respected Sir CV Anand IPS and Hyderabad police. Given the 72nd Miss World-2025 competition, which is to be held in Hyderabad, many countries and their bureaucrats will be joining this event.” The government has installed all the country flags at Tankbund. For a couple of days, some Instagram handles have been posting to remove the `ISRAEL FLAG’ because of the war between Israel and Palestine.”
According to sources, the SHO of Saifabad Police Station has registered two cases under Crime Numbers 138/2025 and 141/2025, and the accused has been arrested.
The incident, however, has been linked to social Instagram posts demanding the removal of the Israeli flag from the venue of the Miss World 2025 pageant in the wake of Israeli atrocities on innocent Palestinians in Gaza and causing large-scale death and destruction.
