A video of a row of houses on fire is being shared on social media with the claim that a temple was set on fire in Kashmir’s Zainpora area. The video has been shared against the backdrop of a spate of recent attacks against the minority Hindu and Sikh communities in Kashmir. Militant outfit, The Resistant Force (TRF), claimed responsibility for the attack in a school where two teachers were killed.
👆🏻One more bad news ..
Temple situated at zainpora shopian burnt by some unknown person…More details awaiting Fwd as received
Posted by Vinod Kumar Sarvodaya on Thursday, October 7, 2021
Twitter handle ‘@SarahLGates1‘ posted this video and wrote that there was an “arson terrorist attack” on a temple in Shopian. The video amassed 2,683 views before being deleted.
User ‘@singh55_‘ also tweeted the visuals alleging that Muslims were behind the alleged attack.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a keyword search which led us to a tweet by DD News Srinagar dated October 7. It stated that a fire had broken out in the Parimpora area of Srinagar.
Approximately 20 sheds gutted in a massive fire at Parimpora locality in Srinagar. Fire and Emergency Services has contained the fire. pic.twitter.com/bRSn8N3iZ2
— DD NEWS SRINAGAR (@ddnewsSrinagar) October 7, 2021
Local outlet ‘Greater Kashmir‘ had published an article about this incident. According to the article, a few houses had caught fire in Parimpora on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Speaking to Global News Service (GNS), officials from the Fire Department revealed that the burnt buildings included some wooden structures and houses. They suspected that the accident was caused by a short circuit.
Other outlets like Kashmir Patriot and QNS TV also covered the fire. However, there is no mention of a temple being burnt anywhere in these reports. Noor Mohammad Sheikh of Jammu and Kashmir’s ‘Apni Party’ met with members of the affected locality.
#ApniParty grieved over a massive blaze in #Parimpora
‘Noor Mohammad Sheikh visit affected locality, demands ex-gratia for the fire victims’
Statement here: https://t.co/He1r3Q7b8m pic.twitter.com/CXdTDUE0eg
— J&K Apni Party (@Apnipartyonline) October 7, 2021
Thus, a video of a fire that broke out in Srinagar’s Parimpora area was falsely shared with a communal angle. The claim that a temple was set ablaze by Muslims is false.
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