A 30-second clip of a man underwater waving a saffron flag with Hanuman’s face imprinted on it is being widely shared on social media. It is claimed that this is an effort by the Indian Navy to mark the occasion of the Ram Temple consecration in Ayodhya on January 22.
On X (formerly Twitter), a premium subscribed user, ललित ज्याणी (@lalitjyani98), shared the above-mentioned video on January 24 with the following caption: “By Indian Navy…. Under water..Jay shree Ram..”. The tweet has been retweeted over 100 times. (Archive)
By Indian Navy…. Under water..Jay shree Ram..#जयश्रीराम pic.twitter.com/P1tDGon2Ov
— ललित ज्याणी (@lalitjyani98) January 24, 2024
Several other users shared the same clip with a similar claim on Facebook and X.
Fact Check
On running a relevant keyword search we came across a report by Latestly with the headline: “Ram Mandir Special: Scuba Diver Raises Saffron Flag With Lord Hanuman’s Image Under Seawater in Gujarat (Watch Video)”. The report was published on January 19 and carried a tweet from the PTI, which had shared the viral video on X.
The report mentioned that the person who could be seen in the viral video was a scuba diver who had gone under the sea at Shivrajpur Beach in Gujarat and raised the saffron Hanuman flag.
We also found PTI’s tweet carrying the viral video and the caption said: “A scuba diver raises a saffron flag with Lord Hanuman’s image under seawater at the Shivrajpur Beach in Gujarat”. The tweet did not have any mention of this being an effort by the Indian Navy or the scuba diver being an Indian Navy representative.
VIDEO | A scuba diver raises saffron flag with Lord Hanuman’s image under seawater at the Shivrajpur Beach in Gujarat. pic.twitter.com/h88z5PC3jX
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 19, 2024
On searching with Gujarati keywords, we came across a report by Gujarati Jagran that carried the viral video. The report mentioned that the man who could be seen in the video was Karamanbha Chamadiya and that he was a scuba diver. However, there was no mention of the Indian Navy carrying out such an exercise.
We found an Instagram profile with the name Karan Chamadiya, which shared scuba diving videos and related photos from Shivrajpur beach. When we contacted the user on the phone number given in an Instagram post, he confirmed to us that the act had got nothing to do with the Indian Navy. “It was our own enterprise.” he said.
Therefore, the claim that the viral video shows an Indian Navy representative underwater with a saffron flag before the Ram Temple Pran Pratishtha is false. The video shows a civilian scuba diver, Karamanbha Chamadiya.
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