A video currently viral on social media claims that riots broke out in Jodhpur, Rajasthan following Congress’s victory in the state. The same clip is being shared with altered narratives, the first one claiming that “Ravan Rajya” has arrived in Rajasthan and “worse is yet to come for Hindus.”
जोधपुर में कोग्रेस आने पर रावण-राज्य का आगाज हो गया ।
“अभी तो ये अंगड़ाई है-
हिन्दुओ तुम्हारी आगे और कुटाई है” ।Posted by कनिका चावला on Wednesday, 12 December 2018
A second narrative sarcastically professes that “Ram Rajya” has arrived in the state. A video posted by individual user Ravi Gupta Hindu has over 11,000 views.
The video has also been circulated by a few in Kannada, with similar narrative propagating that riots broke out in Jodhpur after Congress’ victory. A Twitter user Girish Bharadwaj whose bio reads ‘Vishwa Hindu Parishad’, also posted the video with the caption stating – “via WhatsApp”.
Congress supporters celebrating in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Via WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/k3eSFH38vd— Girish Bharadwaja (@Girishvhp) December 12, 2018
The video is from Gujarat
Alt News found that another Facebook user who shared the video added a few more lines to the narrative floating across social media platforms. “Some friends said that this incident took place in Gujarat,” he wrote.
Alt News broke down the video into multiple frames using InVid software and reverse searched the images using the keyword – ‘Gujarat’. We were then directed to a YouTube video captioned in Gujarati, which said – “મોરબી નું લાઈવ તોફાન (Morbi riot live).”
On looking for the same video with the keyword – ‘Morbi, Gujarat’ – we found a tweet by Gujarati magazine Chitralekha that said – “A group clash took place last night in Morbi’s Kalika plot due to an old animosity/rivalry. A 13-year-old boy was killed in the shootout, four others were injured (translated).” Chitralekha also published a report on the same.
મોરબીના કાલિકા પ્લોટમાં જૂની અદાવતને લીધે ગઈ કાલે રાતે જૂથ અથડામણ થઈ હતી. એમાં થયેલા ગોળીબારમાં 13 વર્ષના છોકરાનું મોત થયું, અન્ય ચાર જણ જખ્મી થયા. #Morbi #Gujarat #violence #firing #chitralekha @CMOGuj pic.twitter.com/P6VxEavtwC
— chitralekha (@chitralekhamag) December 9, 2018
We found that a riot had indeed broken out in Morbi and three persons were booked for the murder of a teen on December 8.
Another clue that pointed to the origin of the video was the crowd shouting in Gujarati. If one listens closely, the crowd can be heard saying “એ ઉભા રહો” at 0:57 seconds. In Gujarati, the term means “hey, wait”.
Assembly elections recently concluded in five states, with the results giving birth to misinformation. Earlier, Alt News had debunked false claims suggesting that Rahul Gandhi took a U-turn on farm loan waivers after his party’s victory. Another false claim suggested that Pakistani flags were waved at a Congress celebration rally in Rajasthan. This time, a video that had nothing to do with the election and is actually from a state where the ruling BJP government is still in power who shared to malign Congress. Alt News has observed that pre-election months are usually ripe with disinformation, however, fake news is also travelling across social media channels post-elections.
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