Visuals of protesters burning the Indian flag in Pakistan are being shared as if they took place in India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 14, 2022
Muslims in India and many other countries have been protesting against BJP spokesperson’s  remarks on Prophet Muhammed. In this context, a social media post showing visuals of hijab clad women burning the Indian flag is being shared widely with a claim attributing the visuals to the recent events, and India. Another post which shows Muslim men setting fire to the Indian tricolour claiming to be from India is also being widely shared. Through this article let’s fact-check the veracity of these visuals.
Claim: Visuals of Muslims setting fire to Indian tricolour in the context of Prophet Muhammad row.
Fact: The video of woman setting fire to the Indian tricolour is at least two years old and is not related to the recent events. It is YouTuber Sajida Ahmad who burnt the tricolour and she did it during a demonstration regarding the Kashmir issue, whereas the image showing Muslim men desecrating the Indian tricolour is related to the recent event. However, the image shows Pakistan Muslims and it has nothing to do with India. Religious organisations in Lahore burnt the Indian flag during a demonstration against BJP spokesperson’s comments on Prophet Muhammad. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Video:
Reverse image search of the screenshots of the viral video led us to a YouTube video which carried similar visuals. This video is uploaded on 02 February 2020 and the description of the video reads ‘Sajida Ahmad & Mansoor Baloch Burning Indian Flag’.
From the video, it is evident that the protest is related to the Kashmir issue, as the woman who has set fire to the tricolour can be heard speaking about Kashmir and the protesters can be seen holding banners related to human rights.
In another video shared on the same channel and on the same day, we can see Sajida desecrating the Indian flag from another angle. In this video, we can also find banners similar to the one in the viral video and the video is associated with #KashmirDay, #Mutri and #Pakistan hashtags.
Through Google search, it is known that the woman seen in the viral video is Sajida Ahmad, a popular YouTuber Known for India bashing.
However, a 2019 Indian YouTube video roasting Sajida Ahmed for desecrating the Indian flag also carried visuals similar to the viral video. Hence, though the exact date and location of the incident are not known, as per the available information, it is evident the video is old and had nothing to do with the recent events and is definitely not from India.
Image:
Reverse image search of the photo yielded multiple news articles which published the same image (here, here & here). As per these articles, supporters of religious groups burnt Indian flag during a demonstration in Lahore against the recent remarks of BJP spokesperson on Prophet Muhammad.
Another visual desecrating Indian flag from the same demonstration can be viewed on stock image website alamy. The description accompanying the image reads ‘Lahore, Pakistan. 09th June 2022. Activists of Majlis Ulma-e-Nizamia Pakistan shouting slogans during a demonstration against former India’s Bharatiya Janata Party spokeswoman Nupur Sharma over her blasphemous remarks for Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Lahore’
Thus, from all these, it is evident that although the image shows Muslims desecrating Indian flag, the visuals are not from India but Pakistan.
To sum it up, visuals of protesters burning the Indian flag in Pakistan are being shared with misleading claims.