Ram Navami was celebrated at Lal Chowk, Srinagar even before the formation of Modi government in 2014 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 13, 2022
A photo collage comparing the images of Lal Chowk with a Pakistani flag, and the one with the Ram Navami procession is shared through a post, suggesting that Ram Navami was not celebrated at Lal Chowk before 2014. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo collage with the images of Lal Chowk showing that Ram Navami was not celebrated at Lal Chowk, Srinagar.
Fact: The image with the Pakistan flag on Lal Chowk was from 2010 but a Pakistani flag was hoisted by Kashmiri separatists at Lal Chowk even in 2016. The image with the Ram Navami procession was from 10 April 2022, but Ram Navami celebrations happened at Lal Chowk, Srinagar, even before 2014. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When reverse image search is done on the image of Lal Chowk with Pakistan flag on it, the same image was found in a blog post published in 2011. So, the image was taken before 2014 when the Modi government was formed.
The incident is from 2010 when separatist protestors hoisted the flag to display anti-India demonstrations. However, there were news reports (here and here) from 2016 when a Pakistani flag was hoisted by Kashmiri separatists at Lal Chowk.
When reverse image search is done on the Ram Navami image from 2022, the same image was found in a recent article on Ram Navami procession at Lal Chowk. The article published on 10 April 2022 is about the Shobha Yatra taken out by Kashmiri Pandits at Lal Chowk, Srinagar. More visuals of the recent Ram Navami procession can be seen here and here.
Ram Navami was celebrated in a grand manner in Srinagar recently. However, there were Ram Navami processions celebrated with religious fervour at Lal Chowk, Srinagar even before 2014. One such image can be seen from the procession in 2013 here.
Another image of a Rama Navami celebration at Lal Chowk in April 2014 can be seen here. The Narendra Modi government was formed in May 2014. This means there were Ram Navami processions near Lal Chowk, Srinagar even before the Modi government formed in 2014.
To sum it up, Ram Navami was celebrated at Lal Chowk, Srinagar even before the formation of the Modi government in 2014.