A video is going viral on social media sites, showing two children wearing white caps and kurta-pajamas removing a crown from a girl’s head. The sound of Azaan (Islamic call to prayer) can also be heard in the video. All the children in the video can be seen praying and reciting prayers.
A verified user, @maheshyagyasain posted the video on Twitter with the caption, “This is happening in Delhi government schools!! They are removing the crown from the head of Bharat Mata (personification of India) and teaching the Kalma (Islamic declaration of faith) by placing a white cloth. This is the Kejriwal model of Delhi schools, spread it as much as possible.”
Other users are also sharing the video with similar claims.
Fact Check
To verify the authenticity of the viral video, the DFRAC team first performed an archive check. During this process, the team found that the fact-check for the viral video had already been done on August 17, 2022, and the report can be read here.
According to the DFRAC team’s fact-check, when different frames of the video were converted using Google’s reverse image search, a tweet from the Twitter account of Lucknow Police Commissionerate was found. The tweet contained a long video of 2 minutes and 18 seconds, clearly mentioning, “Complete video of communal harmony by little children, which has been falsely propagated by some anti-social elements to spread communal hatred. Legal action will be taken against such people.”
छोटे बच्चों द्वारा सांप्रदायिक सौहार्द हेतु प्रस्तुत नाटिका का सम्पूर्ण वीडियो,जिसको कुछ असामाजिक तत्वों द्वारा गलत ढंग से प्रचारित कर सांप्रदायिक द्वेष फैलाने का अपराधिक कृत्य किया गया है। ऐसे लोगों के विरुद्ध सख्त कानूनी कार्रवाई की जाएगी।@Uppolice https://t.co/eWBatkgnyc pic.twitter.com/oKOmLGVszX
— LUCKNOW POLICE (@lkopolice) August 15, 2022
In the entire video, it can be seen that children of various religions, including Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian, were coming one by one according to their respective customs and praying. The girl depicting Bharat Mata (personification of India) was praying with all of them according to their customs. Meanwhile, Times of India journalist Arvind Chauhan had shared the video of the teacher who choreographed the children’s play. In the video, the teacher clarified that the sole purpose of the video was to bring people from different religions together and promote communal harmony.
Here is the complete video of the students offering prayers in various ways (as per the religions)#Lucknow https://t.co/cfcY4DYSaT pic.twitter.com/X2gsvGA2Pi
— Arvind Chauhan (@Arv_Ind_Chauhan) August 15, 2022
Conclusion:
From the DFRAC fact-check, it is clear that the video clip of the play presented by the students has been shared with misleading claims by various social media users. The play at the school on Independence Day was aimed at promoting communal harmony, without any biased angle.
