The Uttarakhand Assembly passed the UCC Bill on 07 February 2023, becoming India’s first state to implement UCC (Uniform Civil Code), which presents common law for marriage, divorce, inheritance of property, etc. A post accompanying a video shows a large group of Muslims gathering on a road in front of a Mosque is widely circulating on social media platforms with the claim that the video depicts a rally taken by Muslims in Haridwar against UCC. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a rally taken out by Muslims in Haridwar against UCC (Uniform Civil Code).
Fact: This viral video shows a Muslim gathering celebrating Eid-Ul-Fitr in May 2022 in Jwalapur Eidgah, Haridwar, Uttarakhand. Furthermore, we also conducted a search on the internet to find information about any recent rally against the UCC in Haridwar. However, we did not come across any reports indicating the occurrence of such a rally. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
To check the veracity of the viral video, we performed a reverse image search on the internet using a few of its keyframes, which led us to a video carrying the same visuals posted on X(Twitter) on 05 May 2022. The video was posted with the caption “View after offering namaz at Jwalapur Eidgah, Haridwar. Hari’s city became Allah’s, it is a matter to think about where the Muslims came from in Uttarakhand, the ancestors here were Hindu Brahmins, Hindu Rajputs or Hindu Harijans”. (On Translation from Hindi to English)
We also found another video carrying the same visuals posted on Facebook on 03 May 2022.
Taking a cue from the above sources, we geolocated the location of the Eidgah in Jwalapur, Haridwar, Uttarakhand using Google Maps. After comparing screenshots from the viral video with the street view image, we can conclude that the visuals in the viral video depict Eidgah in Jwalapur, Haridwar. Below is a comparison between the viral video and its corresponding location on Google Maps Street View.
Subsequently, we came across a local news bulletin on Facebook reporting the gathering of Muslims near Jwalapur Eidgah to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr on 3 May 2022. From this information, it is evident that the viral video depicts a group of Muslims gathering in front of an Eidgah in May 2022 to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr.
Furthermore, we also searched the internet to find information about any recent rally against the UCC in Haridwar, Uttarakhand. However, we did not come across any reports indicating the occurrence of such a rally in Haridwar. Indeed, if such a rally had taken place, the media would have reported it.
To sum it up, an old video of a Muslim gathering celebrating Eid-Ul-Fitr in May 2022 in Haridwar is being circulated with a false claim.
