Videos do not show migration from Pirana village; Viral claims are an exaggeration of ongoing protests - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 2, 2022
A news report claiming that RSS has encroached on the Pirana Dargah and trying to convert the Dargah into a Temple is being widely circulated across social media platforms. The report further alleges that people belonging to the RSS threatened the local Muslims which led to their exodus from the village. Another social post shared videos, which appear to be of protests claiming that Muslim families of Pirana village are migrating in fear of attack by RSS men. Let’s fact-check the veracity of the claim made in these posts.
Claim: RSS men encroached the Pirana Dargah and converted it to a Temple; Muslim families of Pirana village migrated in fear of an attack by RSS men.
Fact: Villagers of Pirana, mostly Saiyed Muslims have been protesting over the construction of a wall replacing the wired fence separating the shrine from Mosque and graveyard. This incident is misconstrued as RSS men encroaching the Pirana Dargah and converting it into a Temple. Moreover, visuals of the protesting Muslim families marching towards the Collectorate and their detention by police are being falsely shared as Muslim exodus from the village fearing the RSS. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Pir Imam Shah Bawa Dargah which is also known as Pirana Dargah in Ahmedabad is a Sufi shrine, which attracts devotees from Hindus, Muslims, and other religions as well. The shrine is managed by the Imam Shah Bawa Sanstha Trust. The majority of the trust members are Satpanthis, who are mostly Hindu followers, while three members of the committee are Saiyed Muslims, the descendants of Imam Shah Bawa, after whom the Dargah is named.
RSS men encroached the Pirana Dargah and converted it to a Temple?
The shrine has been in the news recently following the construction of a wall replacing a wired fence that separates the shrine from the Mosque and the graveyard on the premises by the Imam Shah Bawa Sanstha Trust, which is the custodian of the shrine.
According to the news reports, the trust has constructed the wall following the committee’s resolution passed by majority approval. In addition to the committee’s resolution, the trust has also obtained the district collector’s permission in this regard.
This incident of construction of a wall replacing a wired fence in Pirana Dargah is misconstrued as RSS men encroaching the Pirana Dargah and converting it into a Temple. The ongoing protests are related to the recent construction of a wall and there are no reports of RSS encroaching the shrine.
In this context, it is noteworthy to mention that there are reports dating back to 2004, alleging that the Hindu sect namely the Satpanthis has been trying to take control of the shrine over the years.
Muslim families of Pirana village migrated in fear of an attack by RSS men?
Following the recent developments, villagers, mostly the Saiyed Muslims have been protesting the construction of the wall alleging that construction of the wall would change the nature of the shrine by cutting off the access to the Dargah from the Mosque & graveyard.
Protests were made in front of the shrine, the protesters also marched towards the Collectorate to complain and they were later detained by the police. The videos shared in one of the viral posts show these protests and police detention of the protesters, as the Pirana Dargah is clearly visible in the videos. Other visuals of the protests in Pirana can be viewed on the Facebook page of the Dargah. News reports related to these protests can be read here and here.
These visuals of Muslims marching toward the Collectorate are misconstrued as Muslims migrating from Pirana and have been shared on social media alleging the same. However, a couple of news reports (here & here) quoted locals saying few Muslims have migrated from the village following the recent developments. There are no other official reports or news reports of mass Muslim exodus from Pirana as claimed in one of the viral posts.
Recently, a Muslim man named Nasir Sheik shared a video of people marching in a large group with a claim that the visuals show Muslim exodus in Pirana village following the attack of 200-300 RSS men. Following this video, many social media users shared videos of Muslims protesting as Muslims migrating from Pirana village.
However, Nasir Sheik later shared another video, wherein he clarified that the earlier video he shared is actually of Muslim protesters of Pirana village marching towards the Collectorate in order to complain about the construction of the wall. He further clarifies that the video does not show any Muslim exodus in Pirana as claimed he claimed earlier.
1/3 अहमदाबाद के पिराना से मुस्लिमो के पलायन का विडिओ रिकॉर्ड करने वाले नासिर ने आज एक दूसरा विडिओ जारी करके बताया की उसने विडिओ में जिन लोगों को हिजरत करते हुए दिखाया दरअसल वो लोग कलेक्टर ऑफिस आवेदन पत्र देने जा रहे थे..एक ट्रस्ट के विवाद को उसने कौमी रंग दे दिया ये है आज का बयान pic.twitter.com/5AAwm5uOLy
From the above, the instances of villagers protesting over the construction of a wall replacing a wired fence in Pirana Dargah are misconstrued as RSS men encroaching the Pirana Dargah and converting it into a Temple. The news is being shared on social media platforms in a provocative manner which could flare up the communal tensions.
To sum it up, the videos do not show Muslim migration from Pirana village; Viral claims are exaggeration of ongoing protests.