A video showing some people climbing up a building and a huge mob gathered on the road is going viral on the internet with the claim that a violent attack took place against Hindus in India and that the country is "running towards" turning itself into an "Islamic country."
The claim comes after the recent arrest of Telangana's suspended BJP leader T Raja Singh over his controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad. Following the remarks, Lok Sabha member and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi had demanded Singh's arrest.
A huge crowd of protesters was seen gathering in Hyderabad late on Wednesday night, 24 August, protesting against Singh. Police were seen resorting to lathicharge to contain the protesters and control the situation.
However, we found that the viral video was from Pakistan's Hyderabad where a man, who was booked under blasphemy charges, was attacked by a violent mob at the Rabia Centre. The attack took place on 21 August and continued till the early hours of the next day.
CLAIM
The claim states that the Hindu community is under attack in India and that the country is running towards turning itself into an Islamic nation, where Hindus are being attacked publicly in broad daylight.
It goes on demand that T Raja Singh should be freed. The video was uploaded by Shambhu, a member of the Hindu Janjagruti Samiti.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
At first glance, we found a small sticker in the video which mentioned 'Hyderabad update' and a number. Following this, we noticed a different police uniform. In the video, the police officer can be seen wearing a darker shade of shirt and khaki pants, whereas the official uniform of the Telangana Police is full khaki.
We then fragmented the video into several key frames using a Google Chrome extension, InVID, and performed a reverse image search, supplementing it with keywords such as 'mob attack on Hindus.'
This led us to a report published on 22 August 2022 by the Economic Times which mentioned that the incident happened in Pakistan's Hyderabad. It also highlighted that the mob attacked a Hindu worker who was charged with blasphemy.
Further, we found a video on the official YouTube channel of Hindustan Times titled, 'Pak radical mob chases Hindu man accused of blasphemy; Timely police intervention saves his life.' It was uploaded on 22 August 2022.
A comparison between the viral and YouTube videos clearly shows the similarities. This proves that while the attack was against a Hindu, the incident took place in Pakistan and not in India as claimed in the viral post.
According to Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, business centres and shops in Hyderbad remained closed as the unrest continued in the early hours of Monday, 22 August. Police officials were deployed to control the situation and disperse the large crowd at the Rabia Centre.
Pakistan's Hyderabad Police also filed a First Information Report against the people involved in the incident under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and has arrested 48 people since the day of the attack.
We also found a Facebook post by Sindh Police Hyderabad that said that the accused in the case, Ashok Kumar, was arrested following an FIR on 21 August.
Evidently, an incident that happened in Pakistan's Hyderabad is being shared as an attack on Hindus in India.
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