Staged 'mosque scuffle' clip fans sectarian claims in India

Published on March 13, 2025 at 03:00
2 min read
By Devesh MISHRA, AFP India

As India's Muslim minority observes the holy month of Ramadan, anti-Muslim posts emerged falsely claiming a video shows a Hindu man being assaulted inside a mosque. The clip is part of longer footage of a staged scene that according to its creator was aimed at promoting a lesson in social harmony.

"A Hindu went to iftar party of Muslims to spread message of brotherhood," reads a March 7, 2025 X post, referring to the meal that marks the end of the fasting day during Ramadan. "He was badly assaulted by Muslims."

The post features a clip appearing to show men wearing Muslim skull caps attacking a man in saffron clothes, a colour commonly associated with Hinduism.

Screenshot of the false post, taken on March 10, 2025

Similar posts also surfaced on X and on Facebook but the video is scripted and does not depict a real-life event.

A reverse image search of keyframes found a longer version of the video uploaded on YouTube on April 6, 2024. Its title reads: "When a Hindu Sanyasi (Monk) goes to a Muslim's Masjid (Mosque) for Iftar? Hindu vs Muslim Social Experiment" (archived link).

Screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (L) and the longer YouTube video

The clip circulating online corresponds to the portion of the YouTube video beginning at its 1:01 mark, but the parts that indicate it is staged have been omitted.

At the 15-second mark, the actors provide a disclaimer stating that the video is a social experiment. And at the end, actors who are playing Muslims intervene in the fighting and it concludes with everyone partaking in Iftar.

The YouTube channel PrankBuzz has frequently posted similar content, with the actor playing the Hindu man also appearing in other staged videos.

Devraj Das, one of the actors and co-founder of the channel, told AFP the video has been "misrepresented with communal claims."

"We made the video with the permission of the mosque authority. We were trying to show the real Hindu Muslim unity against communal hatred."

AFP has previously debunked posts that mispresent scripted videos as genuine sectarian incidents here and here.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail