India’s fundamental opposition get together Congress is commonly focused with misinformation that followers accusations it’s extra beneficial to the nation’s Muslim minority. Within the newest case, a video unfold on-line forward of native elections purportedly exhibiting supporters of a Muslim Congress politician brandishing flags from numerous Islamic nations and organisations. The footage actually exhibits a procession for a Muslim vacation unrelated to the elections.
“Have a look at their flags. Flags of Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Hezbollah.. No Indian flag,” learn an X submit that shared the video on November 15, 2024.
“Guess this election rally is from which nation? That is within the secular Maharashtra state Akola west. Congress get together candidate Sajid Khan Mastan Khan election rally.”
The footage exhibits a cavalcade with folks waving the Indian tricolour together with flags of assorted Muslim nations and teams.
The submit racked up greater than 125,000 views as Sajid Khan, a Muslim politician from the Congress get together, campaigned for the Akola West seat in Maharashtra elections — which he went on to win.
Screenshot of the false submit taken on November 17, 2024
Congress teamed up with regional events in a bid to unseat Maharashtra’s ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Social gathering (BJP).Â
Supporters of the Hindu nationalist BJP have typically accused Congress of being extra beneficial in direction of India’s 200-million-strong Muslim minority.
Whereas India is constitutionally secular, calls to extra intently align the nation’s political system with its majority Hindu religion have quickly grown louder since Modi swept to energy in 2014.
The video was shared with comparable claims elsewhere on X and Fb.Â
Nevertheless, the footage exhibits a spiritual Islamic procession in Latur district of Maharashtra roughly 330 kilometers (200 miles) from Akola (archived hyperlink ).Â
Spiritual procession
A reverse picture search on Google discovered an extended model of the video posted on YouTube on October 1, 2024 (archived hyperlink).
The video’s headline suggests it exhibits a procession to have a good time the Muslim competition of Eid Milad-un-Nabi within the Latur district of Maharashtra. Â
Beneath is a screenshot comparability of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the YouTube video (proper):Â
Screenshot comparability of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the YouTube video (proper)
One other key phrase search on YouTube discovered comparable movies of a procession on native information channels Latur Information Official and BharatSatta Dwell from September 2024 (archived hyperlink right here and right here).
Hamid Sheikh, editor of BharatSatta, confirmed that the clip in false posts confirmed an Eid Milad-un-Nabi procession in Latur, Maharashtra.
“The procession was taken out by residents on Milad-un-Nabi on September 19, 2024,” he informed AFP on November 20.Â
“The procession started at Sophia Mosque within the metropolis and handed by way of Primary Highway through Shivaji Chowk and Gandhi Chowk. This video was recorded close to Gandhi Chowk.”
AFP confirmed the placement of the video by evaluating it to Google Maps imagery from the world (archived hyperlink).
Beneath is a screenshot comparability of the false submit video (left) and Google Road View (proper) with similarities highlighted by AFP:Â Â
Screenshot comparability of the false submit video (left) and Google Road View imagery of the world (proper) with similarities highlighted by AFP
