A video is being shared on social media claiming it as the recent visuals of a group of pro-Hindu outfits attacking a mosque in Chhattisgarh. This video shows tens of saffron-clad men marching toward a mosque while playing ‘Jai Shri Ram’ music using loudspeakers. A few other social media users shared the same video claiming that this incident had taken place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Claim: Video of a Hindu groups attacking the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows a recent incident that took place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. On 02 April 2022, a ‘Shobha Yatra’ rally was organized in Bilaspur on the occasion of the Hindu New Year celebrations. The video was shot while this religious procession was passing by the Luthra Shaif Dargah in Bilaspur. But no such violent attack had taken place at the Luthra Sharif Dargah during this religious procession. The Luthra Sharif Dargah spokesperson and Sipat Police officials have termed these rumours of Hindu outfits attacking the Luthra Sharif Dargah as false. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the video screenshots, a video with similar visuals was found to be tweeted by a journalist named Vishnukant on 07 April 2022. Vishnukant reported that a video shot in front of the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chhattisgarh was presented with the wrong context. He said that the rally took a U-turn immediately after passing the Dargah and further clarified that all the Hindu activists who participated in the rally had returned to their houses without having any confrontation. Vishnukant through another tweet said that the Sipat police station in-charge Rajkumar Souri has also confirmed all the above things reported by him.
The Bilaspur ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ correspondent contacted Riyaz Ashrafi, a spokesperson for the Luthra Sharif Dargah, for clarification regarding this viral video. Riyaz Ashrafi told ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ that the video was shot on 02 April 2022, during the ‘Shobha Yatra’ rally organized on the occasion of the Hindu New Year celebrations in Bilaspur. Riyaz Ashrafi said, “This procession reached Luthra Sharif Dargah from Gram Panchayat Kauli via village Khamaria. A program to welcome the procession was organized by the Panchayat representative at Luthra Sharif. This video is from during the same event”. Riyaz Ashrafi confirmed ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ that no such attack took place on Luthra Sharif Dargah during this religious procession held on 02 April 2022.
Further, we contacted Sipat police officials for clarification regarding this video. Sipat police official confirmed to us that no such violent attack took place recently at the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Bilaspur. Speaking to the ‘Newschecker’ fact-checking team, the Sipat police said, “There is no attack here, the allegation is completely false. The incident took place on April 2, on the Hindu New Year, when a Shobha Yatra was being held. The vehicle playing the DJ music was turning the vehicle around, and people in the procession went with him. That’s all that happened. There has been no attack whatsoever. Arrangements for snacks were also made there. The claims are baseless”.
To sum it up, the Luthra Sharif Dargah in Chattisgarh’s Bilaspur was not attacked by Hindu outfits.
