FactCheck: Did the AAP government convert Shiv Mandir into Mosque in Punjab?

A clip of a Punjabi media house New89 is going massively viral on social media platforms. Sharing the clip users are claiming that, the AAP government has converted a Shiv Mandir into a Mosque in Punjab.

Along with the video Twitter user named @Kirandurgavahini wrote, “In Punjab, Aurangzeb’s son Kejruddin issued a new Tughlaqi decree. Shiv temple has been converted into a mosque with the connivance of the administration. @narendramodi, @AmitShah, @DrAnilrss, and @myogiadityanath. Please take some action on this, thank you.” {English Translation}

Soon, this tweet got viral with more that 1.35K retweets and 1.64K till date.

Fact Check

For the Fact Check analysis of the video, the DFRAC team contact Mr. Sandeep Choudhary, Editor of News89 Newspaper & Web Channel. He informed us that the anchor in the viral clip is not anyone but him.

In the, 2.52 minutes long video he has denied the viral claim. He said that “there was no such incident, someone had downloaded the video and shared it with that text.” Further, he told that “there is an old Mosque in Rajpura, Punjab. The families living around the Mosque are majorly Hindus. Some Muslims have also come there from outside places like UP. Some people came there to live due to which issue started. There is a government structure in front of the mosque. One night, those 10-15 families living there established Shivling there without any permission. As soon as the administration got this news, they arrived in the morning at 10 p.m. They respectfully shifted that Shivling to other Mnadir by making Cantonment (छावनी). “

“After that, they put the board, that this property belongs to the Government, and please don’t use it. And, Police are present in that place now also.  Then, Police and administration directed to delete the video to avoid any clashes.”  He further said.

Moreover, he clearly stated that “he had not said any such things in the clip, that is being claimed.”

Conclusion

From this DFRAC Factcheck, it is clear that someone had downloaded the video of News89 and shared it with the wrong context targeting Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government in Punjab.