Visuals of a fire break out in Srinagar is shared as terrorists setting a Hindu temple on fire - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 8, 2021
In the light of the recent terror attacks in Srinagar, wherein multiple civilians including a couple of school teachers were killed, a social media post accompanying a video of a plume of smoke rising out of structures that caught fire is being shared widely. It is being claimed that the video shows a temple in Shopian, Kashmir which is set on fire by terrorists. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of arson attack on a temple by terrorists in Zainapora area of Shopian, Kashmir.
Fact: The Video is actually of a fire break out in a residential area of  Parimpora, outskirts  of Srinagar. The fire which initially broke out in a house soon engulfed the nearby houses. Multiple local news agencies have also reported the video and none of these news reports identified the blazing structure as a Temple. However, the source of the fire break out is not known. Further, there are no recent news reports of a Hindu temple set on fire by terrorists in Shopian, or for that matter any part of Kashmir. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The video is actually of a fire break out, which took place on 07 October 2021 in the Parimpora area of Srinagar, which engulfed several residential houses. Google search with relevant keywords yielded multiple JK local news reports (here, here & here) which reported the images similar to the visuals of the video.
As per these articles, a fire broke out from one of the houses in the locality and very soon engulfed the nearby houses. None of these news reports identified the blazing structure as a Temple. However, these articles did not report the cause of the fire. News reports which reported the video have also identified the incident as a fire break out in Parimpora residential area.
Further, there are no recent news reports of a Hindu temple being set on fire by terrorists in Shopian, or for that matter any part of Kashmir. Had such an incident really took place, the media would have reported it. Kashmir valley’s largest Kashmiri Pandit group, the Kashmiri Pandit Sangaresh Samithi (KPSS), in their correspondence with IB Times, a news agency, has also confirmed that the viral claims about the Zainapora temple being burnt down are false.
To sum it up, visuals of a fire break out in a residential area in Parimpora, Srinagar is shared as terrorists setting a Hindu temple on fire in Kashmir.