New Delhi, January 2: Amid the prevalent tense atmosphere over the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, a video was circulated on social media on Thursday which further stoked communal tensions. The footage shows a group of people burning down photos of Hindu Gods and Goddesses, with the text accompanying the social media posts claiming that the blasphemous act was carried out by a group of anti-CAA demonstrators.

A fact-check has, however, revealed that the news is fake and is being deliberately spread with malicious intent. By back-searching the visuals from the footage on Google, once would be redirected to a YouTube video uploaded on September 3, 2018. The title of the video alleges that the act of defilement was perpetrated by Bhim Army activists. Indian Intelligence Identifies Over 5,000 Pakistani Social Media Handles Spreading Fake News on CAA.

The clip was also found on Facebook, dating back to about a year ago. The uploader claimed that the blasphemous protest was carried out by Ambedkarite activists in Ashokapuram area of Mysore district of Karnataka.

Watch Video Shared by BJP's Sambit Patra

"This video is shocking ...how can any protest have a right to defile the tenets of Hinduism ..who gives them the right to burn the pictures of Hindu Gods & Goddesses ..why should any protest be an Anti-Hindu protest? Is this is what the Congress & Communists promote?" he asked on Twitter.

The video shared by BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra is dated, as proved through the clips of YouTube and Facebook as cited above. By attributing the footage to that of an anti-CAA protest proves that Patra has fell victim to "fake news". LatestLY would recommend readers to exercise caution and do not retweet or share contentious videos on social media without verifying.

Fact check

Did Anti-CAA Protesters Burn Pics of Hindu Gods? Fact Check Shows That BJP's Sambit Patra Fell For Fake News
Claim :

Anti-CAA protesters burnt pictures of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.

Conclusion :

Fake news, the video dates back to at least 2018, when the issue of CAA had not even propped up.

Full of Trash
Clean

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 02, 2020 11:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).