Fact Check: ISIS, Hezbollah flags at Congress rally in Maharashtra’s Akola? Know truth
Fact Check: Viral social media posts and news reports claim 'Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Hezbollah' flags were raised at a Congress bike rally in Akola, Maharashtra.
Fact Check by Newsmeter:
Claim: The flags of ‘Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Hezbollah’ were displayed at Congress party leader Sajid Khan Mannan Khan’s bike rally in Akola West, amid the ongoing Maharashtra elections.
Fact: The claim is false. The video is from a Milad un Nabi bike rally that was held in September in Latur, Maharashtra.
As Maharashtra gears up for elections on November 20, a video has been circulating on social media and through media outlets, alleging that flags of 'Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, and Hezbollah' were displayed during a rally held by Congress candidate Sajid Khan Mastan Khan in Akola West. The footage depicts a bike procession with individuals carrying various flags.
An X user shared the video of the bike rally writing “Look at their flags. Flags of Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Hezbollah! .... No Indian flag. Guess this election rally is from which country? Congress party candidate Sajid Khan Mastan Khan election rally in Akola west of secular Maharashtra!” (Archive)
Indian Herald reported the viral video with the headline "Shocking! Palestine, Iran, ISIS, Hezbollah flags in Congress election rally in Akola West."
Inkhabar also shared similar reports of the viral video with the headline "ISIS-Hezbollah flag seen at Maharashtra Congress leader's rally, people got angry as not a single tricolour was seen" (translated).
Fact Check
A fact-checking team has debunked the claim that the viral video of a bike rally is not from Congress leader Sajid Khan Mannan Khan’s election campaign in Akola West. (Note: The viral post refers to him as Sajid Khan Mastan Khan, but according to the My Neta website, the Congress candidate's correct name is Sajid Khan Mannan Khan.)
Using a reverse image search on keyframes from the video, the team found that the same video uploaded on a YouTube channel on September 23. This confirms that the video is more than a month old. Also, according to the video title, the rally was from Latur to Mumbai.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ozvX-6mBO8
Further investigation through keyword search led us to a similar video uploaded by the YouTube channel 'Latur News Official' in September. According to the channel, the footage was from the Milad un Nabi bike rally in Latur.
A comparison between the viral video and the video uploaded to the YouTube channel 'Latur News Official' shows striking similarities. In both the videos, the same black car and a man in white attire holding a tricolour flag are clearly visible.
Comparison
By conducting a keyword search using 'Latur Telephone Tower,' the location depicted in the viral video was identified as Telephone Bhavan in Mahatma Gandhi Chowk, Latur. This building features a tower that matches the one seen in the video. Using Google Street View, the exact location was verified on MSH3 Road in Latur, where the viral video was recorded.
Below is a comparison between a keyframe from the viral video and the Google Street View image of the same location in Latur. Sajid Khan Mannan Khan is the Congress candidate for the Akola West constituency in Akola district. Notably, Latur district is over 302 kilometers away from Akola.
There are some differences in the buildings visible in the frame, as the Google Street View images are from February 2023, while the viral video is from September 2024. In addition to the infrastructure changes, the time gap between the two images also shows noticeable differences in the foliage.
We also found similar videos of bike rallies held in Latur during Milad-un-Nabi celebrations in previous years.
We did not independently verify whether ISIS or Hezbollah flags were raised at the Latur rally. However, it is clear that the video is old and unrelated to Sajid Khan’s election rally in Maharashtra.
Claim Review: Palestine, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Hezbollah flags were seen at Congress party leader Sajid Khan Mastan Khan’s bike rally in Akola West
Claimed By: X users and news reports
Claim Reviewed By: NewsMeter
Claim Source: Social Media
Claim Fact Check: False
Fact: The claim is false. The video is from a Milad un Nabi bike rally that was held in September in Latur, Maharashtra.
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by Newsmeter, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
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