Does This Video Show Crowd Waving Saffron Flag From Mosque During Karauli Riots? No, Video Viral With Misleading Context

A video showing people waving saffron flags atop a mosque has gone viral across social media. The video has gone viral in the context of Karauli riots which occured in Rajasthan on April 2.

On New Samvatsar (Hindu New Year), the riots began after incidents of stone-pelting at an ongoing bike rally were reported. The bike rally was passing through a Muslim dominated area. The rally was organised by right-wing groups such as Bajrang Dal and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Several shops and vehicles were vandalised in retaliation to the stone-pelting. Section 144 was imposed following the violence and DGP Mohan Lal Lather stated that 105 people were arrested and a probe was being conducted into the incident.

Claim:

Viral posts across Twitter and Facebook show a 12-second clip which depicts a person climbing on a mosque. The person waves a saffron flag as the crowd below chants 'Jai Shree Ram' (Hail Lord Ram).

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption which reads, "वाह! भगवा शुरवीरों करौली में जिस मस्जिद से पत्थर फेंके गए थे उसी मस्जिद पर चढ़कर भगवा शेरों ने लहराया भगवा जय जय श्रीराम."

[English Translation: Wow! saffron warriors. After the stone-pelting, these saffron lions waved the saffron flag from top of the mosque in Karauli. 🚩 Jayshree Ram.]The video has been shared with the claim assuming that it pictured the incident during the Karauli riots.

Another user wrote a caption which reads, "करौली राजस्थान में जिस मस्जिद से फेंके गये थें पत्थर उसी मस्जिद पर चढ़कर बंजरग दल ने लहराया भगवा। जय श्री राम."

[English Translation: The Bajrang Dal waved saffron flag by climbing on the same mosque from where the stones were thrown in Karauli, Rajasthan. Jai Shri Ram.]

The video went viral across Facebook with similar captions.

Fact Check:

After conducting a keyword search across Twitter using keywords such as "करौली" and "वीडियो", we came across this tweet by the District Collector and Magistrate of Karauli.

The translated tweet reads, "Collector Rajendra Singh Shekhawat has informed that the video released by Arjun Mehar on social media is not from Karauli. The Collector instructed the police to take strict action against those spreading rumours regarding Karauli. He appealed to the general public to avoid such rumours on social media."

Taking this into consideration, we conducted a keyword search with the keywords "मस्जिद भगवा झंडा". We found the following video which gave information about the origin of the video.

The caption of the video translates to, "In Gahmar, Ghazipur, former MLA Sunita Singh, along with hundreds of supporters, entered the mosque and beat up the worshipers. Later, the people danced and waved the saffron flag on top of the mosque."

We then came across this tweet which sheds further light on the incident in Ghazipur.

[Translation: "This mosque is being described as if it is in a completely different location. Here I have just got the photos of the mosque in Gahmar, Ghazipur."]

Uzma Parveen alleged that people rushed into the mosque and beat up the worshippers. The pictures that Parveen uploaded share several similarities with the mosque in the viral video.

As can be seen from the picture, the four domes and the staircase is in the exact location in both the photos.

Taking this into consideration, we then came across an Indian Express report which reported an incident of unidentified people climbing atop a mosque and raising religious slogans,

Ghazipur police had lodged FIRs against unidentified people for causing enmity between two groups.

The report also quoted Station House Officer, of Gahmar police station, TL Sen. He said that residents of the village took out the Ram Kalash Yatra on April 2. "When the procession reached near a mosque in the village, a few youths climbed on the mosque and raised slogans of 'Jai Shree Ram'."

After receiving a scolding from those present at the spot, the youths descended, as per the report. Ghazipur Police has responded to many tweets that talk about the incident, stating that no action has been taken in this case yet as the locals haven't registered a complaint.

Conclusion:

The video which had went viral on social media in the context of the Karauli riots. The users claimed that the video was taken after the stone-pelting incident in Karauli. However, as the contrasting evidence shows, the video is actually of an incident from Gahmar village from Ghazipur.

The incident involved a group of men climbing top a mosque and shouting slogans and was not a retaliatory action in response to stone-pelting that occurred in Karauli. The Logical Indian Fact Check team was not able to independently verify the claim that worshippers in a mosque were beaten up however, the incident is not from Rajasthan but actually from Ghazipur, UP. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

Also Read: Does This Video Show A Muslim Army in Kerela? No, Viral Claim Is Misleading!