A video showcasing Anil Desai, the Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate from Mumbai South is circulating widely, alleging that Pakistan flags were waved during his Chembur campaign (here & here). The video depicts a green flag with a crescent and a star. This article fact-checks the claim presented in the post.
Claim: Video showing the waving of a Pakistani flag during the election campaign of Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai in Mumbai.
Fact: The flag captured in the viral video is a generic Islamic flag, not the Pakistan national flag. It differs from the Pakistan flag in several ways: it does not include a white stripe, and it contains numerous small stars, a feature absent in the Pakistan flag. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video shows the election campaign of Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai in Chembur, Mumbai. However, the flag shown in the video is not that of Pakistan but an Islamic flag.
A comparison between the Pakistan national flag and the one observed in the video makes it clear. There are noticeable differences between the two flags. The flag in the viral video does not have a white stripe, unlike the Pakistan flag. Additionally, the viral video’s flag features multiple small stars which are absent from the Pakistan flag.
This confirms that the flag is a generic Islamic flag, akin to those available on various e-commerce platforms. Additional search led us to a news report that covered the same video as it gained traction on social media. According to this report as well, the flag in the video is an Islamic flag, not the national flag of Pakistan.
To sum up, the waving of an Islamic flag during Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Anil Desai’s election campaign is falsely shared as a Pakistan national flag.
