Clip of 'Muslim man stopping display of Indian flag' cut from scripted video about respecting others

Published on August 27, 2024 at 10:25
3 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

A clip from a scripted video about a Muslim man seemingly refusing to allow India’s national flag to be put up around his shop has been shared thousands of times in posts that misrepresented it as a genuine incident in the Hindu-majority country. The full video shows the man in fact has a larger national flag flying above his shop. According to its creator, the video aimed to promote "respect".

"What should be done with these traitors?" read part of the Hindi-language caption to a clip shared on social media platform X on August 18, 2024.

"Earlier the traitors had problems with the saffron flag but now the tricolour flag has also started causing trouble," it added, referring to the saffron-coloured flag mainly used in Hinduism and India's tricolour national flag.

The clip appears to show a Muslim man stopping several people from pinning small Indian flags to the outside of his street stall.

It surfaced days after India celebrated its Independence Day on August 15, when the national flag is often displayed in homes and shops.

Screenshot of the false X post, taken on August 20, 2024

The clip was also shared with similar claims elsewhere on X and on Facebook.

But the clip is from a scripted video, and has been truncated to omit its ending.

Promoting 'respect'

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared clip found it was taken from a longer YouTube video posted on the channel "Ritik Kataria" on August 14, 2023 (archived link).

The video is titled "Muslim mother and son fight with Hindu over tricolour" and its description includes the tag "motivationalstory".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and video available on YouTube (right).

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false post (left) and video available on YouTube (right)

The clip circulating online corresponds to the portion of the YouTube video beginning at its 57-second mark, but the ending has been removed.

The full video shows the shopkeeper saying he "cannot allow the flag to be disrespected".

As the group argues, a police officer arrives on the scene and the shopkeeper shows him that a bigger national flag of India is mounted above his shop. He explains the flag should always be displayed in a prominent position, and the video ends with everyone embracing.

Ritik Kataria, the owner of the YouTube channel, told AFP on August 23: "The video is scripted and was originally uploaded in August of the previous year."

Kataria added he is Hindu and played the role of the Muslim shopkeeper.

The video aimed "to promote brotherhood in the country and to respect the perspectives of others."

AFP has previously debunked posts mispresenting scripted videos as having been genuine incidents here and here.

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