Tirunelveli:
A visiting British teacher caused a flutter when he pinned a miniature Indian national flag on his trouser to cover a torn portion in the leg area at the official Republic Day function in Tirunelveli.
Paul Fixer Dyke from a London school, on a visit to a private matriculation school here under an exchange programme of education department, was seen sitting in the front row with the metal flag pinned to cover the torn area.
District Collector Samayamoorthy had asked officials to bring Dyke and his woman collegue Lora Clarke to the dais to honour them on learning about their presence at the function.
As Dyke started moving, his pant got torn after coming into contact with a crowbar used for fastening the shamiana at the venue. He later fixed the torn pant by using the metal flag, which he was sporting on his shirt.
Though the Britisher waited in the front row to be honoured with a shawl, he later went off without accepting it, apparently after he came into focus with some shutterbugs taking snaps.
An official said somebody should have advised him to remove the national flag from his leg but probably language problem prevented them from doing so.
Though the officials sought to play down the incident saying Dyke had only fixed the torn trouser and no motive should be attributed to it, some freedom fighters wondered if he would have the done the same thing to a British flag.