The land beside a temple in KPHB colony (Hyderabad) is not being occupied by Muslims as claimed
A post with a photo of a green flag in an empty plot is being widely shared on Facebook with a claim that the land beside a temple in Kukatpally Housing Board Colony (KPHB) in Hyderabad has been occupied by Muslims. Let’s try to find out the extent of truth in this claim.
Claim: A land beside a temple in KPHB colony is being occupied by Muslims.
Fact: Though the photo of the ground shown in the post is beside a temple in KPHB colony (Hyerabad), it is not occupied by Muslims. Every year, Banjaras celebrate Teej festival (seedlings festival) and hold Sant Sevalal Jayanti celebrations in that ground. The flag in the image also belongs to these events. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
FACTLY team went to the location shown in the post and found the same flag shown in the post. When we asked a few people in the locality about the flag, they said it belongs to the Banjaras. The land belongs to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). The locals said that every year Banjaras celebrate the Teej festival (seedlings festival) and hold Sant Sevalal Jayanti celebrations in that ground and the flag belongs to them. As the photo of the flag went viral for the wrong reasons, the green flag was removed by the time FACTLY reached the ground and only the white flag was present. In the photo, the presence of items related to pooja can be seen below the white flag. If the flag was placed by Muslims to build a mosque there, it is very unlikely that they worship by lighting diyas.
The news about such a celebration was also found in the local edition of various newspapers on 19 February 2020. It was reported that Sant Sevalal Jayanti celebrations took place on that ground. The green flag can also be seen in the photo of that news. Also, similar green flags and moon-shaped flags were used in Sant Sevalal Jayanti celebrations at other places which can be seen here and here.
FACTLY team also spoke with the priests of the temple which is beside the ground who also confirmed that the flag is related to Banjara tribal celebrations. While speaking to FACTLY, they said that the flag doesn’t belong to people from other religions and asked not to believe the fake news circulating on social media. The video bytes can be seen here and here.
FACTLY also has in its possession the previous years’ pamphlets regarding the Banjara tribe’s Teej festival celebrations on that ground and permission letters from the police, which can be seen below.
In the context of the Delhi riots, a few people are sharing these fake posts on social media to create communal unrest in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad police commissioner tweeted asking people not to share these kinds of false rumours.
To summarize, the land beside a temple in KPHB colony (Hyderabad) was not occupied by Muslims.
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