On 17 March 2025, Hindu organisations held a protest in Nagpur, Maharashtra, demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, during which communal violence broke out in Ganeshpeth and nearby areas. Amid this, a video is circulating on social media (here, here, and here) showing an elderly man addressing a crowd, urging them to boycott Muslims in friendship and business. The video is being shared with claims that it shows a mass boycott of Muslims in Nagpur. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: The video shows Hindus in Nagpur taking a pledge for a mass boycott of Muslims after recent communal clashes.
Fact: The viral video shows a gathering held to seek justice for Rohit Gurjar, who was shot dead in East Delhi on 09 March 2025. Speakers in the video mention the murder case, demand action against the accused, and call for a Mahapanchayat in Ghazipur, Delhi, on 23 March 2025. One of the speakers in the video talks about boycotting Muslims. This video was shot on 16 March 2025, a day before the Nagpur violence on 17 March, and is unrelated to the Nagpur clashes. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Upon reviewing the viral video carefully, at the timestamp of 1:34 minutes, we heard a man mentioning a Mahapanchayat at Ghazipur in Delhi. Around 2:30 minutes into the clip, another man says that the main motive is to get justice in the murder case of Rohit Gurjar.
We conducted a relevant Google keyword search on Rohit Gurjar’s murder case in Ghazipur and found multiple reports (here, here, here, and here). According to these reports, Rohit Gurjar (alias Rohit Chawda) was shot dead late at night on 09 March 2025 in the Ghazipur area of East Delhi. It is alleged that 4-5 attackers in a car stopped him near Phool Mandi on NH-24 and opened fire. Police arrested two individuals in connection with the case. The arrested accused have been identified as Nazim and Talib. DCP East Delhi, Abhishek Dhania, stated that the initial investigation suggests the motive was a financial dispute. He also mentioned that another suspect, currently in UP Police custody, is under suspicion, and his role will be determined after his arrest.
We then performed a reverse image search of keyframes from the viral video, which led us to a longer version (archived) live-streamed on the Facebook profile of Sanjeev Bhati (@sanjeev.bhati.9659) on 16 March 2025— a day before the Nagpur violence on 17 March. The caption of the post stated that Rohit Gurjar was murdered in Delhi on 09 March 2025 and alleged police inaction, claiming that the four main accused were not in custody. It also called on community members to gather in Ghazipur on 23 March 2025 to seek justice for Rohit.
To sum up, the viral video shows a gathering regarding a murder case in East Delhi, not a pledge for a mass boycott of Muslims in Nagpur.
