Fact Check by BOOM: A video has gone viral on social media amidst the 'Hindu Ekta Padyatra' led by religious leader and Peethadheeshwar of Bageshwar Dham, Dhirendra Shastri. Sharing this video, users are claiming that slogans were raised with the picture of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb during Dhirendra Shastri's padyatra.
Dhirendra Shastri is on the 'Hindu Ekta Padyatra' from November 21 to November 29. During this time, he will cover a distance of 160 km from Bageshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh to Orchha.
A verified user on social media platform X shared the viral video and wrote, "Muslims showed Aurangzeb's photo and raised slogans- Aurangzeb tera baap Aurangzeb tera baap during the padyatra of Bageshwar Baba Dhirendra Shastri ji. Hindus showed great peace. You can see the video yourself how much they were provoked to riot but Hindus kept walking quietly in the padyatra.' (Archive link of the post)
This video is also viral on the social media platform Facebook with the same claim. (Archive link of the post)
Fact check: Viral video is from Maharashtra elections
Upon conducting a Google reverse image search of key frames from the viral video, the fact check team discovered that the video was uploaded on November 18, 2024, by a Facebook account named Javed Qureshi.
The caption of the post read, "In the rally of Javed Qureshi, a candidate from Aurangabad Madhya Vanchit, Pradeep Jaiswal clashed face to face. Showed Aurangzeb (rh) photo and raised slogans of Zindabad." This confirms that the video was online before Dhirendra Shastri's padyatra began, further disproving the viral claim.
After this, when we looked at this video carefully, on one side some people are raising slogans with the picture of Tipu Sultan and Aurangzeb, while on the other side people standing are raising slogans of 'Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai'.
Apart from this, some people hold placards with the 'Vote for Javed Qureshi' in their hands. Also, on the other side, the vehicles running have flags of Shiv Sena (Shinde group) and BJP.
When we searched the related keyword on Google, we found a video related to this on a YouTube channel named Aurangabad Updates. The heading of this video was, 'Aurangabad Central: Workers reached Javed Qureshi's bike rally with Aurangzeb's photo, raised slogans of Zindabad.' In this video too, placards with pictures of Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan can be seen in the hands of people.
In the recently concluded Maharashtra Assembly elections, Pradeep Shivnarayan Jaiswal of Shiv Sena (Shinde) won from Aurangabad (Central) by more than 8000 votes. While Mohammad Javed Qureshi, candidate from Prakash Ambedkar's party Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, came fourth.
MLA confirmed
To confirm the video, the fact check team contacted Pradeep Shivnarayan Jaiswal, the newly elected MLA from Aurangabad (Central). He said, "This video is from one of our road shows in Aurangabad. On one side of the road are my supporters, while on the other side are Javed Qureshi's supporters."
He further said, "The supporters holding the placards of Aurangzeb and Tipu Sultan are Javed's supporters. We are followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. We were shouting slogans of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Ki Jai and they were shouting Aurangzeb Zindabad. There was no untoward incident. We left the place peacefully." Pradeep Shivnarayan Jaiswal also confirmed that no complaint was made to the police in this matter.
CLAIM: Slogans of 'Aurangzeb Zindabad' and 'Aurangzeb Tera Baap' were raised during Dhirendra Shastri's 'Hindu Ekta Padyatra'.
FACT CHECK: The viral video is from Aurangabad, Maharashtra. Supporters of Javed Qureshi, who contested from Aurangabad Central, raised these slogans during the election road show.
(Disclaimer: This story was originally published by BOOM, and republished by India TV as part of the Shakti Collective.)
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