Fact Check: Viral video of Hindu temple being vandalised in Pakistan is from 2020, not recent

New Delhi (Vishvas News): In a video that has gone viral on social media, a frenzied mob can be seen razing down a building. It is being claimed that this video is from Pakistan, where a 100-year-old Shiva temple was demolished by a mob of fanatics.

Vishvas News investigation found this claim to be misleading. The video going viral is indeed from Pakistan, but it is an old video, which is being made viral with inflammatory and fake claims about a recent incident. A temple was razed by a frenzied mob led by a cleric in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. After the matter came to light, the Chief Justice of Pakistan ordered the local administration to immediately rebuild the temple.

Claim:

Sharing the viral video (archive link), social media user ‘Pankaj Sinha’ wrote, “See how a 100-year-old Lord Shiva temple was demolished in Pakistan. See how 100 years old Lord Shiva’s temple was demolished in Pakistan. And here the Ram Janmabhoomi temple, built after the decision of the Supreme Court, is troubling not only the “green worms” but also some so-called secular Hindus.”

This video has also been shared by many other users on different social media platforms with the same claim. Several users have shared this video on Twitter, making it seem like it is a recent incident in Pakistan.

Investigation:

A social media search found a video tweeted by Turkish journalist Mubashir Zaidi on Twitter, which matches the viral video. According to the tweet dated December 30, 2020, a Hindu temple was destroyed by a mob of fanatics led by a local cleric in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. The Hindu community was given permission by the local administration to expand the temple, but the local clerics mobilised the mob to destroy the temple while the police and administration remained mute spectators.

In this tweet, former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has been tagged as the incident took place during his rule.

In a keyword search, we found reports published on several Pakistani news websites, which mention the incident.

According to a report published on January 5, 2021 on thecurrent.pk website, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province IG Sanaullah Abbasi told reporters that 92 policemen were present at the scene, but they could not control the crowd. “I have suspended 12 police officers,” he said.

According to reports, during the hearing of the matter, the Chief Justice of Pakistan ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to rebuild the temple immediately.

BBC Hindi also reported on this incident. According to a video bulletin uploaded on the official YouTube channel of BBC Hindi on December 30, 2020, a frenzied mob in Pakistan vandalised the tomb of a Hindu saint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

We contacted Pakistan-based journalist and fact checker Lubna Jerar Naqvi regarding the viral video. She confirmed that the video is from Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, but it is of an old incident and after the matter came to the fore, the Supreme Court had also taken cognizance of the matter.

The user who shared the viral video with the misleading claim is followed by over 1.5 lakh people on Facebook.

In 2022, Vishvas News published more than 1,500 fact check reports in Hindi alone and analysis of these reports gives us interesting information about the trends of mis-information in the Indian scenario during the year. This special report by Vishvas News can be read here.