Old Video of Brawl in US Gurudwara Revived Amid Farmers’ Protest

Several news reports had published articles about a brawl inside Turlock Gurudwara in California, USA.

Fact-Check | We found that the video, which can be dated back to 2016, was from Turlock Gurudwara in California, USA.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing people from the Sikh community clashing at a Gurudwara is being shared with a claim that it shows “Sikhs fighting with each other for the power of Gurdwaras in Canada.” It goes on to take a dig at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for supporting the farmers in India.

However, we found that the video, dating back to 2016, was not from Canada but from the Turlock Gurudwara in California, USA.

CLAIM

The caption with the viral video states in Hindi, “कनाडाई प्रधानमंत्री जस्टिन ट्रुडो भारत में खालिस्तानियों को समर्थन दे रहा है। अब कनाडा में ही गुरुद्वारों की सत्ता के लिये सिखों में आपस में संघर्ष शुरू हो गए हैं। जल्दी ही ये सारे कनाडा में दिखेगा | जो दूसरों के लिये गड्ढा खोदता है|”

[Translation: “Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is supporting Khalistanis in India. Now one can see power tussles among the Sikh community in Gurdwaras in Canada. Soon, it will be seen all over Canada. Those who dig a pit for others....”]

The claim comes in the background of the ongoing farmers’ protests in India over the three new contentious farm laws passed by the Centre in 2020. In December 2020, the Canadian Prime Minister extended his support to the farmers and urged India to uphold the right to peaceful protests.

The claim was shared on Twitter and Facebook.

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The claim was also shared on Facebook previously.

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We conducted a Google Search for “Fight in Gurudwara” and found several news reports that contained the same video. One news report published in 2016 on India Today, was titled, “Caught on camera: Brawl inside California gurudwara”.

(Source: Twitter/India Today/Altered by The Quint)

“An altercation between two factional groups inside Turlock Gurudwara in California, turned violent after people brandished swords and kirpans at one another. Several people were injured in the brawl,” the news report said.

An archive of the post can be found here.(Source: India Today/Screenshot)

The incident was also reported on Sikh24, Scroll and CBS news’ websites.

As per the reports, this was not the first time the Gurudwara saw a brawl between the two factions. Evidently, the video of a 2016 incident from Turlock Gurudwara in California was shared with a false claim of a fight breaking out at a Gurudwara in Canada.

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