Hindu monk interview misrepresented online after Kumbh Mela stampede
- Published on February 24, 2025 at 08:25
- 3 min read
- By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India
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"Shankaracharya Ji reprimanded Yogi Adityanath Ji over a video call. Do resign," reads the Hindi-language caption of an X post shared February 7, 2025.
The video, which refers to a religious title for the head of a monastery, is divided into two parts.
In the first part, the monk says: "Where have your arrangements gone? This Kumbh has turned out just like the previous ones. What was special about it? Your Kumbh was supposed to be unique. You claimed that 40 crore (400 million) people would attend, and you had made arrangements for 100 crore (one billion). Yet, why is your system failing?"
In the second part, he discusses how, in Hinduism, no one can say anything without written proof.
India's government said February 11 that more than 450 million pilgrims had attended the festival, a six-week-long celebration of prayer and ritual bathing in the northern city of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh (archived link).
The festival is held every 12 years at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers. It ends February 26.
The post surfaced after at least 30 people died in a stampede at the Kumbh Mela in late January (archived link). It gained traction on X and Facebook because it supposedly depicts a Hindu monk reprimanding a politician from the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Monk Avimukteshwaranand has criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath for his alleged mismanagement of the Kumbh Mela. However, the video circulating online does not show him speaking to the politician over the phone.
Misinterpreted video
The footage bears a watermark that says "exclusive chauchak media." Keyword searches on YouTube surfaced the same video published February 5 (archived link).
The title is: "Mahakumbh_2025, Shankaracharya was seen scolding on video call, || Made Yogi Adityanath realise his mistake".
The title and description of the video do not say Adityanath was on the call.
Further keyword searches for an interview featuring Avimukteshwaranand found a video that Jamawat, a digital media company, published February 3 on YouTube (archived link).
The interviewer asked the monk why he demanded Adityanath's resignation when similar stampedes had also occurred under previous governments.
Avimukteshwaranand responded by criticising Adityanath's arrangements for the festival.
Jamawat confirmed to AFP that Avimukteshwaranand was speaking with the outlet's anchor Devanshi Joshi, not Adityanath.
Joshi also asked about other Hindu saints' statements regarding the stampede deaths. However, this part is omitted in the misleading social media posts.
"Someone recorded this clip during my interview and shared it with a false claim," Joshi said in a Gujarati-language X post published February 10 (archived link).
AFP previously debunked a video claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi snubbed Avimukteshwaranand at a wedding.
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