A video showing several cars driving over an Indian Tricolour fixed to the ground has gone viral. A group of people carrying the Pakistani flag can be seen cheering on. Users claim that the video was shot in Kerala. (Archive)
केरल के इस वीडियो को देखें और दुनिया भर में अभी फॉरवर्ड करें । 6 महीने बाद फॉरवर्ड करने का कोई लाभ नहीं है part -1 pic.twitter.com/SmKrNp6rJC
— 🅹︎🅰︎🅸︎ 🆂︎🅷︎🅸︎🆁︎🅸︎ 🆁︎🅰︎🅼︎ (@AadiTiw61246771) July 7, 2023
The video has been viral for at least a year with several other users tweeting the video with the same claim. (Archives- 1, 2, 3)
The video has also been circulated several times on Facebook.
The viral video was also circulated in the past with claims that it was shot in Tamil Nadu.
Fact Check
Upon reverse image searching one of the key-frames of the viral video, we found a tweet containing the same video dated March 10, 2020. The caption said it was from Pakistan.
Disgusting! Pakistani parade disrespects the flag of India.
A culture based on hating #India will not lead to a better future. Shameful. #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/I6UPjthdm9
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) March 10, 2020
In one of the frames in the aforementioned video, one can see a hoarding with the name ‘Sanam’ on it. A Google search of the name with the relevant location (Pakistan) led us to a store named Sanam Boutique in Karachi. Below is a comparison between the Google street-view of the store and a frame from the viral video.
Looking at the Google street view of the boutique, we could also verify that the locality around the store is also the same as seen in the viral video. Thus, it is evident that both locations are the same.
We also noticed a white vehicle with the text ‘PTCL’ written on it in green. Upon probing further, we found that PTCL or the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. is the national telecommunication company in Pakistan. The logo matches the green text seen on the vehicle.
We found several instances of the longer version of the viral video. In the approximately 5-minute video, we noticed that another vehicle passing by, which had ‘The Hunar Foundation’ written on it.
The Hunar Foundation provides young adults with vocational training to help them achieve economic freedom. Their address is in Karachi, as listed on Google. This detail further corroborates that the video was actually shot in Karachi.
Hence, an old video from Pakistan dating back to at least 2020 showing the Indian Tricolour taped to the ground with cars driving over it is viral with the claim that these are visuals from Kerala. Earlier, the same video was viral with the claim that it was shot in Tamil Nadu.
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