No, These Shop Boards in Karnataka Were Not Damaged for Being 'Saffron-Coloured'

The video could be traced back to February and shows BBMP workers destroying signboards in English.

A video which shows several people damaging a signboard of a shop is being shared to claim that the incident took place in Karnataka, where people damaged them because the shop carried saffron flags and saffron-coloured boards

What do the viral posts say?: The video is being widely shared with a caption in Hindi, which loosely translates to, "By voting for Congress, you cannot use saffron colour in your shop, home, locality, temple etc. - Karnataka."

(You can view archives of similar claims here and here.)

Are these claims true?: The claims are false. The video shows people workers from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) destroying signboards that were in English, and not in Kannada.

What led us to the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video and found a similar video uploaded on an Instagram handle named 'bengalurublr'.

• The video was shared on 24 February and its caption mentioned that several BBMP staff were seen breaking down English signboards.

• While the video was shorter than the viral one, it carried visuals of the staff members bringing down English letters from the 'Burger King' shop as well.

• It should be noted that the 'Burger King' shop did not carry any flag or signs in saffron colour.

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A post shared by Bengaluru 🖤 BLR (@bengalurublr)

News reports: We found a news bulletin shared on the official YouTube channel of India Today that carried similar visuals as the viral clip.

• The video was published on 23 February with a title that said, "Bengaluru's Language War: BBMP Cracks Down on English Signboards Ahead of Deadline."

• Its description said that the civic body had cracked down on shops carrying English signboards, ahead of the deadline which was set at 28 February.

• Several officers claimed to continue targeting shops and establishments because they did not display 60 percent of their signage in Kannada.

• The bulletin showed authorities bringing down English signboards of several commercial establishments.

• A report in Deccan Herald said that the BBMP had suspended one of its health officers who ordered his staff to damage English nameboards.

• The action was taken by the body after several videos went viral on social media showing BBMP staff tearing down English letters from signboards.

The Quint has reached out to the owner of the shop with the saffron-coloured board and will update this report with their inputs if received.

Conclusion: It is evident that the video is being shared with a false communal angle.

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