Old video from Afghanistan falsely linked to Pakistan anti-Sikh attacks
- Published on August 22, 2023 at 12:56
- 4 min read
- By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India
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Warning: This story contains graphic images
"Jihadis opened fire at Sikhs as Gurbani was heard during azan in Pakistan," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on August 9.
Gurbani, which means 'the Guru's word' is a hymn from Sikh religious texts, while azan, also spelt 'adhan', is the Muslim call to prayer.
The graphic video shows people lying on a carpet covered in debris.
The posts surfaced after a string of deadly attacks on members of the Sikh community in Pakistan (archived link). However, there were no reports of an attack on a Sikh temple, as the false post mentions.
The post was shared on a Facebook page called "We Hindu's Be United" and includes hashtags such as "#Modi", "#hinduism" and "#Jihad".
India's minority Muslim community have complained of an uptick in discrimination and attacks by Hindus emboldened under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power in 2014 (archived link).
"And here we are advocating brotherhood, remember every brother will become their fodder," the post adds, suggesting that Indians promote harmony with Muslims but that Muslims in Pakistan are killing Sikhs.
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The video surfaced in similar posts on Facebook here and here and on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Afghanistan attack
A keyword search on Facebook found a similar video posted on Facebook on March 26, 2020 (archived link).
"Brutal attack of Sikh Gurudwara (sic) in Kabul which has killed 11 Sikhs while unofficial reports suggest 20+ Sikhs," the post says, referring to a gurdwara, which is a Sikh temple.
"This was filmed inside the Gurudwara (sic) just after the attacks, by one of the Sikhs. The end of the video shows dead bodies. Our people died, Narendra Modi Ji."
At least 25 people were killed when gunmen stormed a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital Kabul on March 25, 2020 -- one day before the video was uploaded.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted worshippers offering morning prayers.
BBC News and India's NDTV also reported on the attack (archived here and here).
Various visual clues in the video posted on Facebook in March 2020 match up to the clip circulating online in August 2023.
The same person wearing dark clothing can be seen lying on the ground at the 1-second mark of the video shared in false posts and the 34-second mark of the Facebook post from 2020.
Below is a screenshot comparison of that frame in a false post (left) and in the 2020 video (right):
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Similarly, a person wearing a black top and raising his arm can be seen at the 0:02 mark of the video shared in false posts (below-left) and at the 0:39 mark of the 2020 video (below-right):
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A set of holes in the wall of the building is also visible at the 0:05 mark of the video in false posts (below-left) and the 0:40 mark of the 2020 video (below-right):
Various media outlets published similar images of the aftermath of the attack, including the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters (archived link here and here).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and AP's video (right), with the similarities highlighted:
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