Twitter user @CrimeReportInd1 claimed in a recent tweet that Hindu students at St. Joseph’s Engineering College in Mangalore mocked Muslims by dancing to Bollywood item song ‘Fevicol Se’ while wearing hijabs. (Archived link)
This video was first posted by a Twitter handle named ‘Hate Watch Karnataka’. It is worth noting that the handle did not identify the students taking part in the performance by their religion or otherwise. It just stated that a group of students was seen dancing to an item song while dressed in burqas to make a mockery of the garment.
A Facebook user also shared the video and wrote that Hindu students participated in a dance performance making fun of Muslims. The logo of Hate Watch Karnataka can also be seen in this video.
Reporting on this incident, India Today claimed that the burqa-clad performers were all female Muslim students.
Mangaluru students’ dance allegedly mocks burqa! @sagayrajp with more details. #ITVideo pic.twitter.com/Y53cAEnLCm
— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) December 9, 2022
Fact Check
We noticed that St. Joseph’s College issued a statement on the matter in a Twitter thread. The institution clarified that the performance in the video was by Muslim students. The video captured a part of an impromptu dance by some Muslim students who barged onto the stage during the ‘informal part of the students’ association inaugural’. It added that the performance was not part of the approved program and the students involved had been suspended pending an inquiry. The college said that it did not support any activity which could disturb communal harmony, or hurt religious sentiments.
It was not part of the approved program and the students involved have been suspended pending enquiry. The college does not support or condone any activities that could harm the harmony between communities and everyone. (2/2)
— St Joseph Engineering College, Mangaluru (@SJEC_Mangaluru) December 8, 2022
Times of India also covered the incident. Principal Rio D’Souza informed the outlet that the administration suspended all four students who belonged to the Muslim community.
One of the students who had been suspended tweeted that the intention behind this video was not to make fun of any religious community. The student also shared the video they were referencing during the performance, whose choreography they had apparently copied.
The video shown below was referred in that dance by us please don't spread hatred towards college and the muslim community@SJEC_Mangaluru @VarthaBharatiEn @LavanyaBallal #stopspreadingrumours #stopspreadinghatred (2/2) pic.twitter.com/shOG4xYn8T
— Mohammed Shahil (@shahilmo10) December 8, 2022
The video that the students imitated is given below. The song playing in the background of this video is the same as the one in the viral performance.
A classmate of these four students tweeted that they had chosen this costume for a ghost-themed dance performance. And all the students belong to the same community.
We are the guys who did this dance and they are my classmate and it was our costume for the ghost theme dance and and we all are of same group and religion. And we are not hurting any religious beliefs please remove this video and don’t spread hatred to any religion or community
— Mohammed Sharaz (@msharaz52) December 8, 2022
Alt News reached out to a student of the college. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said that the four students seen in the video were Muslims and none of them were girls. The claim being made by media channels suggesting that it was girls dancing in burqas is inaccurate. He also stated that the students wanted to look like a nun as seen in the above video. But because the costume did not arrive in time, they had to wear a burqa.
To sum it up, a video of a group of Muslim students from a college in Mangalore dancing in burqas was circulated with the false claim that the performers were Hindus. Besides, all the four students seen in the video were boys. The claim that girls performed the dance in burqas is false as well.
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