A video going viral on social media (here, here, and here) claims that Muslims tried to disrupt Bageshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri’s rally by provoking attendees with a poster of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The video also features men displaying posters with Aurangzeb on one side and BR Ambedkar on the other, along with slogans supporting the Mughal emperor. Let’s verify the truth behind the video in this article.
Claim: Video shows Muslims disrupted Bageshwar Dham Dhirendra Shastri’s rally with Aurangzeb posters and slogans.
Fact: The viral video is not from Bageshwar Dham Dhirendra Shastri’s rally but from the election campaign rally of Aurangabad Central seat candidates Javed Qureshi of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi and Pradeep Jaiswal of Shiv Sena (Shinde), who faced off against each other on either side of the roads on 18 November 2024. Both sides raised slogans of “Aurangzeb Zindabad” and “Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai.” This election campaign rally predates Shastri’s rally on 21 November 2024. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
To get more information about the viral video we conducted a reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to a Facebook post (archived) of Javeed Qureshi dated 18 November 2024, featuring the same video with the caption: “In Aurangabad Central, Vanchit candidate Javed Qureshi’s rally faced off against Pradeep Jaiswal, showing Aurangzeb’s (RH) photo and raising slogans of ‘Zindabad’.”
We found (archive) that Bageshwar Dham’s Dhirendra Shastri began a 160 km padayatra (foot march) on 21 November 2024 from Bageshwar Dham. Focused on promoting Hindu unity, the march ended on 29 November 2024 in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. The viral video predates Shastri’s rally.
Upon closely examining the video, we observed that some individuals were raising slogans with pictures of Tipu Sultan and Aurangzeb, while others chanted slogans of ‘Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai.’ Additionally, some people were seen holding placards reading ‘Vote for Javed Qureshi.’ Vehicles passing on the opposite side displayed flags of the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and BJP. One car’s number plate in the video was registered in Maharashtra with MH 20, corresponding to Aurangabad. Notably, Shastri’s rally took place in Madhya Pradesh.
We conducted a search using relevant keywords and found a video (archive) related to this on a YouTube channel named Aurangabad Updates, dated 18 November 2024. The video was titled, Aurangabad Central: Activists reached Javed Qureshi’s bike rally with Aurangzeb’s photo, and raised slogans of Zindabad. In the video, people can also be seen holding placards featuring images of Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan.
We also observed the same men displaying posters with Aurangzeb on one side and BR Ambedkar on the other in both the viral video and the Aurangabad Updates YouTube video.
In the November 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections, Pradeep Shivnarayan Jaiswal from Shiv Sena (Shinde) won from Aurangabad (Central). Mohammad Javed Qureshi, a candidate from Prakash Ambedkar’s party Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, finished in fourth place.
To sum up, a video from an Aurangabad election rally is falsely linked to Dhirendra Shastri’s rally.
