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A video of a spiritual flag atop a truck has been shared in posts that falsely claimed residents of Bareilly metropolis in India’s Uttar Pradesh state waved the flag of Muslim-majority Pakistan to rejoice the failure of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) to safe a majority within the state after the nation’s normal election. The flag within the video differs from Pakistan’s nationwide flag, and the video circulated on-line weeks earlier than the outcomes of India’s marathon nationwide polls have been introduced.
“Bareilly grew to become Pakistan!!” learn a part of a Hindi-language publish shared on social media platform X on June 5, 2024.
“As quickly as Samajwadi Celebration gained 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh, folks from the peace loving group in Bareilly waved the flag of Pakistan,” the publish continued, utilizing a phrase that Hindu hardliners sarcastically make use of to consult with Muslims.
A video connected to the publish exhibits folks sitting atop a truck waving a inexperienced flag that bears the star and crescent moon image of Islam.
Superimposed on the video is a picture of Pakistan’s nationwide flag, and an individual talking over the footage says: “The Pakistan flag is waving in Bareilly, policemen are additionally standing there.”
The publish surfaced after the results of India’s marathon normal election have been introduced, displaying that the opposition Samajwadi Celebration had gained extra seats than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP in Uttar Pradesh — India’s most populous state and a bellwether for nationwide elections
It was the primary time in 15 years that the BJP had didn’t win probably the most seats within the state, the heartland of India’s majority religion that had shaped the bedrock of the BJP’s parliamentary power.
Modi will stay in workplace however with a considerably decreased mandate and needing to depend on coalition allies to control.
The video was additionally shared with comparable claims elsewhere on X and on Facebook.
However it doesn’t present folks in Bareilly waving Pakistan’s nationwide flag.
Not Pakistan’s flag
The flag proven within the video is totally different to Pakistan’s nationwide flag; it doesn’t have a vertical white stripe near the hoist and the star and crescent image faces in the wrong way.
Beneath is a screenshot comparability of the flag within the video (left) and an image of Pakistan’s nationwide flag from AFP’s archives (proper):
Furthermore, a reverse picture search of keyframes adopted by key phrase searches led to the identical footage posted by an Instagram user on Might 19 (archived link).
The Instagram publish was shared greater than two weeks earlier than the outcomes of India’s weeks-long normal election have been announced on June 4.
A consultant for Bareilly’s police power instructed AFP the video “has no reference to the outcomes” of the ballot.
The officer stated the video is from a spiritual procession that passed off in 2023.
“The flag seen within the video is just not the flag of Pakistan however is said to the faith of Islam.”
AFP has debunked extra misinformation round India’s elections here.
