Video of elected Kashmir official shared with false 'Islamic nation' claim

"Even a single wrong vote by Hindus can turn the country into an Islamic nation," reads part of the Hindi-language caption of a video shared here on X, formerly known as Twitter, on August 29, 2023.

It says the burqa-clad woman is a district collector -- a high-ranking officer appointed by the state government -- and the clip was filmed in the southwestern state of Karnataka, where the opposition Congress party ousted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in state assembly elections in May (archived link).

The BJP had mounted a major campaign in the state with Modi himself visiting to promote its muscular brand of Hindu politics. At one of his rallies, he praised an incendiary new film that wildly exaggerates the number of Hindu women converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State jihadist group.

"Whether you understand anything or not, if you want to see this scene in Madhya Pradesh then vote for Congress party and I.N.D.I.A.," the caption adds.

The next state assembly polls will be held in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, and the ruling BJP is again expected to face tough competition from Congress (archived link).

I.N.D.I.A refers to the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, formed by more than two dozen opposition parties including Congress to challenge the BJP in parliamentary elections in 2024 (archived link).

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Screenshot of the false post, captured on September 5, 2023

The video was shared with a similar false claim on Facebook here and here, and on X here.

But the clip is not from Karnataka.

Independence Day celebration in Kashmir

A close analysis of the banners in the background of the falsely shared video suggest the clip was filmed in Indian-administered Kashmir.

A banner at the video's 27-second mark says this is an independence day event courtesy of "District Administration Kishtwar". At the video's 39-second mark, a separate banner says "Chowgan Ground".

Chowgan Ground is located in Kishtwar, a district in Indian-administered Kashmir (archived links here and here).

The restive Muslim-majority territory -- home to a long-running insurgency against Indian rule -- has been under direct rule from New Delhi since 2019, when the Modi government suspended its limited autonomy. The snap decision was accompanied by mass arrests and a months-long internet blackout.

A logo in the top-right corner of the clip shared in the false posts reads "Fast News: Keep an eye on every news".

A subsequent keyword search on Facebook found a longer version of the video had been uploaded on August 15 by a media outlet called Fast News, which is based in Kishtwar (archived link).

Fast News' eight-minute video is captioned: "Independence Day 2023:-Saima Parveen Lone Vice Chairperson Kishtwar hoist the National Flag at Chowgan ground kishtwar moreover First time in history vice chairperson kishtwar Saima Parveen lone addressed the General public of kishtwar with hijab."

The clip shared in the false posts corresponds to the Fast News video's five-second to one-minute mark.

Below is the screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the Fast News video (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and the Fast News video (right)

A similar video of the independence day celebrations in Kishtwar was uploaded to Facebook here, where the same burqa-clad official can be seen raising and then saluting the Indian flag before being driven around the field (archived link).

The official in the video, Saima Parveen Lone, became the vice chairperson of the Kishtwar District Development Council, a local government unit elected by voters, in February 2021, according to a report by news outlet Greater Kashmir (archived link here and here).

Lone told AFP she was the woman seen in the video.

"My video has been shared with a false claim," she said on August 31. "I am not the collector of Kishtwar district but the elected deputy chairperson of the District Development Council. It is a body elected by the people while the collector is appointed by the government."

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