Old video of Darul Uloom mufti on Badrinath Temple falsely linked to AAP

A video of a man claiming that Badrinath Temple in Uttarakhand is a Muslim religious site and should be handed over to the Muslim community is circulating on social media. “He isn’t Badrinath but Badruddin Shah,” the man says. The video has been shared targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) amid its decision to contest Uttarakhand assembly elections next year.

Several Facebook users have shared the video (1 and 2). Alt News has also received verification requests for the clip.

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The same has been shared by a few users on Twitter.

आम आदमी पार्टी के उत्तराखंड में प्रवेश के रुझान आने शुरु हो गए हैं। जागो हिन्दुओं जागो,जागो उत्तराखंडियो जागो।
फिर पछताए क्या होत है जब चिड़िया चुग गई खेत। झूठ फैलाने और धार्मिक भावनाएं भड़काने के जुर्म में इस व्यक्ति पर कार्रवाई हो। @pushkardhami @PMOIndia @HMOIndia @myogioffice pic.twitter.com/W900koSvHN

— 🇮🇳Harshika🇮🇳 (@HarshikaJoshi3) July 25, 2021

Fact-check

A simple Google search with the keywords ‘Badrinath Muslims’ throws up a report by India TV from 2017. The channel reported that the man is a mufti of Darul Uloom. Members of the Muslim community condemned his statement. This can be watched around 2:24 minutes onward in the video.

According to Jansatta, “Maulana Abdul Latif Qasmi of Madrasa Darul Uloom Niswan has claimed that hundreds of years ago Badrinath Dham was known as Badruddin Shah or Badri Shah. Maulana Abdul Latif Qasmi has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that this religious place be handed over from Hindus to Muslims.”‘

An FIR was filed by Acharya Jagdamba Prasad Pant from Uttarakhand against an unknown person after the mufti’s video recently went viral. He alleged that the video hurt religious sentiments, and the claim that Badrinath Temple is the shrine of Badruddin Shah is false and offensive.

A four-year-old was shared with a false claim targeting AAP ahead of Uttarakhand elections 2022.