Fact Check: Mosque in Prayagraj demolished to widen adjacent road; viral claim is misleading

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video is going viral on social media platforms in which a bulldozer can be seen razing a mosque. The video is shared with a claim that the Pakistani flag was hoisted atop the mosque in Prayagraj, after which the Yogi government in Uttar Pradesh ordered the demolition of the mosque.

Vishvas News investigated the video and found that the claim linked to the video is misleading. It was found out that the mosque was demolished to widen the adjacent road in the presence of the officials of the Prayagraj administration. The administration has also issued a notice to the mosque management before carrying out the demolition.

Claim:

Twitter user Aditya Tamarkar shared the viral video (archive link) on January 15, 2023. Sharing the video, the user wrote in the caption, “Pakistan flag hoisted on the mosque in Saidabad, Prayagraj (UP), the entire mosque was demolished.” #YogiHintomumkinhai

Investigation:

To know the truth of the viral claim, we searched for the video with relevant keywords on Google. We found a report by Dainik Bhaskar.com related to the viral video, which was published on January 11, 2023. According to the report, the Shahi Masjid, built during the time of Sher Shah Suri on Public Works Department land in Saidabad Bazar under Handia tehsil in Prayagraj, was demolished in the presence of a tight security force and officials of the Public Works Department. The Public Works Department is widening the Prayagraj to Haldia GT Road, for which the Shahi Masjid was removed. Live Hindustan also published this news.

During the investigation, we also found a tweet related to the viral claim on the official Twitter account of Prayagraj Commissioner. On January 16, 2023, while replying to a Twitter user, the Commissioner wrote, “The Prayagraj-Handia main road is being widened by the Public Works Department. The Shahi Masjid built in Saidabad town of Handia police station area was located on the route. The mosque was removed on 09.01.2023 with a consensus made after the talks held between the officials of the PWD and the members of the mosque committee.”

Taking the investigation further, we noticed the flag present on the mosque and compared it with the flag of Pakistan. On searching about the flag, we found that it is an Islamic flag. There is a lot of difference between this flag and the flag of Pakistan. The flag of Pakistan has a white stripe, while the stripe is not present in the Islamic flag.

Vishvas News also spoke to Inspector Kamlesh Kumar, in charge of Handia police station. He told us that the Shahi Masjid in Saidabad town was built on PWD land and the officials removed the mosque in the presence of former Deputy District Magistrate of Handia, Ramesh Chandra Maurya, and Assistant Commissioner of Police Handia on the order of the court. He said that the Islamic flag was put up on the mosque and not the Pakistan flag, and termed the claim linked to the video as misleading.

For more information, we contacted Rakesh Pandey, editorial in-charge of Prayagraj Dainik Jagran. He told us, “The viral claim is false. The mosque was located on the government land of Prayagraj Handia Highway, which has been removed after giving notice.”

At the end of the investigation, Vishvas News did a social scanning of the handle of the user who shared the fake claim. According to the information given on the profile, the user is a resident of Durg city. More than 7,000 people follow the user. The account is active on Twitter since September 2020