India TV Fact Check: A video of a police officer is being made viral on social media with the claim that in Maharashtra's Nashik, religious activities like 'Bhajan and Kirtan' (worshipping God with songs and instruments, generally by Hindus) have been stopped during the 'Azan' calls (Muslim call to prayer). However, when we fact-checked this claim, this video has been proved to be completely fake.
What is going viral?
A video circulating on social media shows a police officer saying, "During the five Azan times—5 am, 1:15 pm, 5:15 pm, 6:30 pm, and 8:30 pm—there is a prohibition on singing bhajans, playing musical instruments, or reciting Hanuman Chalisa within 100 meters of mosques, for 15 minutes before and after each Azan." It is further said in the video that these things are being said by the Nashik Police Commissioner.
A user named Manoj Srivastava shared this video on X and wrote - "You keep sleeping, Sanatanis, the order has just come from Nashik. In the coming times, this will happen in the whole of India. Do not vote, keep making the future of the country and the family dark."
India TV did investigation
As the video claiming a ban on Bhajan-Kirtan during Azaan was going viral on social media, so we decided to investigate it. First of all, we took the help of Google Open Search and searched whether any such order had come from the police in Nashik. However, we did not find any such news in which this claim has been made. After this, we searched about this on X with the help of keywords related to the case. As soon as we did this, we found a tweet from Nashik Police. In this tweet, the police have called this video fake and edited.
Regarding the viral video, Nashik Police said, "FAKE VIDEO ALERT - A Warning from Nashik City Police. A deliberately edited version of a 2.5 year old video, MISQUOTING THE DESIGNATION of an officer as the Nashik Police Commissioner, was circulated on WhatsApp by miscreants, and also posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a user yesterday. It had the potential to disturb the law and order situation on the ground. We have REGISTERED AN FIR, and legal action will be taken against those circulating the video.
Circulating edited versions of videos to promote enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, or language is punishable under Sections 196 and 197 of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Our vigilant cyber teams are monitoring all online activity, and we will take the strictest possible action against such posts."
What came out in fact check?
A fact check by India TV has confirmed that the viral video on social media, which claims that Bhajan-Kirtan must be stopped during Azan, is false. The police have clarified that the video has been edited. People are advised to be cautious of such misleading posts.
