Old Video Of Skit Promoting Communal Harmony Viral With Fake Communal Spin

A video of a skit performed by school students is going viral on social media. In the viral video, a girl dressed as Bharat Mata (Mother India) can be seen while a few children can be seen removing the crown from the head of the girl (Bharat Mata) and tying white cloth on her head. Islamic prayer can be heard playing in the background. Poeple shared this video with communal spin.

While sharing this video, people targeted Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government and claimed that during the skit, Bharat Mata's crown was removed and she was forced to recite kalma in Delhi's government school.

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote,"This is happening in government schools of Delhi!! The crown from the head of Bharat Mata was removed, they put a white cloth on her head and Kalma was recited by childrens. This is Kejriwal's Delhi school mode, spread it as much as possible."

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with similar claim.

Claim

Bharat Mata was forced to remove her crown and recite Kalma during a skit in school led by Delhi government.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. Viral video is from August 2022 and is presented out of context.

During the initial investigation, we used InVid's Keyframe Analysis tool to isolate the keyframes of the viral video. We then conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes, which led us to a report of Dainik Bhaskar dated 15 August 2022, in which a still of the viral video can be seen. According to the report, the viral video is from Shishu Mandir School located in Malviya Nagar, Bazar Khana, Lucknow. A play was staged on the occasion of Independence Day. DCP West S Chinappa told media that a video went viral on social media with a false claim that the Bharat Mata crown was removed and she was made to wear a Hijab. In this skit, children tried to give a message about maintaining social harmony. He also mentioned that action will be taken against those who are trying to share this video fake communal spin.

We also found a tweet done by the official handle of Lucknow Police Commissionerate dated 15 August 2022, in which the extended version of the viral video can be seen. In the complete skit's video, a female dressed as Bharat Mata can be seen worshipped according to Hindu, Islamic, Sikh, and Christian traditions. The caption of the video reads, "Full video of drama presented by small children for communal harmony has been wrongly propagated by some anti-social elements and criminal act of spreading communal hatred. Strict legal action will be taken against such people."

Police Commissionerate Lucknow also released a statement on this matter. It reads, "In a statement, Police Commissionerate Lucknow stated, "In a video posted on social media, a girl costumed as Bharat Mata is forced to perform namaz after having her crown taken off. After looking into the film, we discovered that it was produced by Shishu Bharatiya Vidyalaya at the Malviya Nagar Police Station in Bazarkhala. After watching the entire video and getting in touch with the school's principal, we learned that students had performed a skit. The theme of the skit was to promote communal harmony, and it appeals to maintain peace and not indulge in fights in the name of religion. Twitter users have misled others by using a clipped section of the video. We have initiated the investigation."

On searching more, we also found a tweet by Times of India journalist Arvind Chauhan on 15 August. He posted the byte of Pragati Nigam, the teacher who choreographed the play and the statement of Lucknow West DCP S Chinappa. Pragati Nigam said in her statement that she had staged this play to unite the four religions. She said, "My intention was not to hurt the religious sentiments of any person. I appeal to people to watch the entire video first."

Conclusion:

It is evident from our investigation that the viral video is old and presented out of context. According to Police Commissionerate Lucknow, the viral video is of Shishu Bharatiya Vidyalaya, Lucknow, where students performed a skit to promote communal harmony. It was falsely shared with false communal spin. Also, it has nothing to do with Arvind Kejriwal led AAP government. Hence, the viral claim is false.

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