A number of videos featuring school-going children are being shared on social media. In the first clip, a group of boys dressed in school uniform are seen fighting near an auto parked in the middle of the road. In some other videos, an injured boy is lying on a stretcher and the person recording the video is asking him about the incident.
It has been claimed that a group of Muslims attacked ‘Hindu school-goers’ with knives. A Twitter user named Bam Bam Thakur shared a 5-second video on March 22, 2023, writing, “From Khajuri to Karawal Nagar, people of a particular community attacked Hindu children who were returning after taking their Class 12 examination with knives, injuring more than 20 children grievously. Ramzan gift to infidel Hindus. (Archive)
रमजान से ठीक दो दिन 20 मार्च को खजुरी से लेकर करावल नगर तक विशेष समुदाय के लोगो ने हिन्दुओ के बच्चे जो 12 th का पेपर देकर लौट रहे थे चाकूओं से हमला किया तकरीबन 20 से ज्यादा बच्चे बुरी तरह घायल करके काफिर हिन्दुओं को रमजान का सौगात दिया है।
हिंदूवादी सरकार की @DelhiPolice… pic.twitter.com/gDKL3avAmz— बम बम ठाकुर (@BambamThakur_HS) March 22, 2023
A user named Manoj Srivastava shared another video on March 26, claiming that on March 20, people from the Muslim community attacked ‘Hindu children’ with knives, in which more than 20 children were injured. (Archived link)
On March 21, a user named Sunil Giri posted several videos of the incident. The tweet mentioned an attack on Hindu children by assailants of a particular community. (Archived link)
कल 20 मार्च को खजुरी से लेकर करावल नगर तक विशेष समुदाय के लोगो ने हिन्दुओ के बच्चे जो 12 th का पेपर देकर लौट रहे थे चाकूओं से हमला किया तकरीबन 20 से ज्यादा बच्चे बुरी तरह घायल पुलिस औऱ नेता मोन क्यों @DelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/M8fN2JuXK8
— Sunil Giri (@GiriSg10) March 21, 2023
Fact Check
Alt News performed a keyword search, which led us to a few reports covering the incident. Hindustan Times reported on March 27 that five students were attacked with a knife on their chest and stomach. Six minor accused were also arrested in the case. All the five victims of the attack were currently out of danger and undergoing treatment at the hospital. The incident involved a clash between the students of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Karawal Nagar and another government school over a motorcycle stunt. According to the police, one of the attackers was performing a motorcycle stunt in front of the school in Karawal Nagar on March 17 (Friday). Some students outside the school asked him why he was performing stunts in front of their school, which led to an argument. The students allegedly slapped the boy performing the stunt, due to which he fell off the motorcycle and got injured. Though the boy got himself treated at a hospital, he did not inform the police about the matter.
Later, the student behind the stunt went home and gathered his friends to stage a counter-attack. The police said that these boys made a plan to attack the boys from the other school on March 20 (Monday). It was carried out when the students of Karawal Nagar school were returning after taking their examination.
One of the injured students informed the police that he first noticed that a group of boys dressed in blue pants, white shirts and black shoes were following him. Two to three of them had sharp weapons. Later, it was discovered that they had knives. Six accused were taken into custody after police examined the CCTV footage of the scuffle.
According to the report, all the accused claimed to be minors, but police were verifying their age. Along with this, they added that that the 11 boys involved (five victims and six accused) belonged to the same religion.
Alt News contacted a local journalist who also emphasized that there was no communal angle to the incident and all the students belonged to the same religion.
Next, Alt News contacted a shopkeeper from the area where the clash took place. He denied that there was any communal angle in this matter and also shared some videos of the violence.
Following this, we examined the FIR copy registered in the case containing the names of all the victims. Since they are minors, Alt News has blurred their names. The details of the complaint match those mentioned in the Hindustan Times report. We also reached out to the brother of one of the victims who said that there was a fight between two groups of schoolchildren. Currently, all the five victims have been discharged from the hospital. He refused to say anything more than this.
The Times of India and NDTV have also published reports on the incident. We noticed that a YouTube channel named ‘Jhalko Delhi’ shared a statement issued by the DCP (North East Delhi) on this matter. After giving all the details of the incident, the DCP stated, “It was reported on social media that there was a fight between the children of two communities. There’s nothing as such. All these boys belong to the same community. Further investigation is still being carried out.”
To sum it up, students from two government schools in Delhi’s Karawal Nagar clashed among themselves. A video of this incident was shared with a false communal angle. In reality, all the victims and the accused belong to the same community.
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