A social media post containing a news clip covering a Muslim procession is being widely shared. It is being claimed that individuals replaced the Ashoka Chakra on the tricolor with Islamic phrases (Kalma) after the recently concluded Telangana elections following the Congress victory in Telangana. Let’s look into the veracity of this claim.
Claim: Procession following Congress victory in Telangana during which individuals replaced the Ashoka Chakra on the tricolor with Islamic phrases (Kalma).
Fact: The video in question actually captures a protest by the Muslim community in June 2022 in Mahbubnagar, Telangana, reacting to remarks made by the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed. Various news agencies reported on this footage at that time; however, none of these reports linked the protests to the Congress party. Importantly, the video is unrelated to the recently concluded Telangana elections, where the Congress emerged victorious. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video does depict individuals waving the tricolour with Islamic phrases substituting the Ashoka Chakra. Nevertheless, it’s important to clarify that neither the procession is linked to the Congress party, nor does it have any association with the recently concluded Telangana elections. The viral clip showcases journalist Sudhir Chaudhary reporting on the video, and an online search using pertinent keywords led us to the original news source, from which the viral excerpt has been derived.
The original news source was broadcast live on 10 June 2022, through Zee New’s official YouTube account. According to this report, the procession in question was organized in Mahbubnagar of Telangana, in response to remarks made by the suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammed. It is important to highlight that during this protest, the state was governed by the BRS party, not the Congress. Furthermore, none of the reports linked the protests to the Congress party.
Further search led us to various news articles covering the protest and the showcasing of tricolour with the Ashok Chakra replaced by the ‘Kalma’ (here, here & here). These reports, dating back to June 2022, underscored that the demonstrations were held in reaction to Nupur Sharma’s comments about Prophet Mohammed.
The results of the recently held Telangana elections were announced on 03 December 2023, in which the Congress emerged victorious. Furthermore, our investigation revealed no reports of such processions following the Congress triumph. Hence, these findings unequivocally refute the false attribution of the viral video to the Congress party and the Telangana elections.
To sum it up, old visuals of protest over Nupur Sharma’s comments against Prophet Mohammed are falsely linked to Congress’s Victory in Telangana Elections.
