Indian posts stoke religious divisions with misrepresented UAE national day video
- Published on October 31, 2025 at 10:41
- 3 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India
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Suggestions that fireworks to mark Diwali may have contributed to soaring air pollution in India's capital are being dismissed online as complaints from "fake" Muslims, with social media posts piling on by falsely claiming an old video shows "real Muslims" celebrating the Hindu festival of lights in Saudi Arabia. The video in fact shows celebrations for the UAE's national day in December 2023.
"In Saudi Arabia, real Muslims are celebrating Diwali with great enthusiasm, bursting firecrackers; meanwhile in India, fake ones are fuming about Diwali firecrackers," reads the caption of a Facebook video shared on October 21, 2025.
The video, which has been viewed more than 32,000 times, shows groups of people on the street watching an elaborate fireworks display.
It circulated as Diwali celebrations were linked to the Indian capital's air pollution crisis -- a link Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa pushed back against and described to the Asian News International (ANI) news agency as a politically motivated attempt to ban Hindu religious practices (archived link).
The link has also been rejected online, with people making the association labelled as anti-Hindu or Muslim.
According to monitoring organisation IQAir, toxic air in the Indian capital Delhi did spike following the Diwali celebrations -- hitting more than 56 times the UN health limit just after the peak of the bursting fireworks early on October 21 (archived link).
The video was also shared in similar Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X posts, with comments indicating users believed it showed a Diwali celebration in Saudi Arabia.
"How wonderful Diwali is celebrated in Saudi Arabia but Muslims in India hate Diwali," read one such comment.
But the video in fact shows a celebration of the United Arab Emirates' national day in Abu Dhabi.
Abu Dhabi fireworks
A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same clip posted on YouTube on December 3, 2023 (archived link).
Its caption reads, "UAE 52 National Day Celebration 2023".
An analysis of the video by an AFP journalist reporting on the Middle East also uncovered other elements indicating the video was filmed in the United Arab Emirates, including a photo of the country's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on a car and a falcon emblem -- a symbol of the country -- above the number "52" on a lamp post.
Subsequent keyword searches led to a statement about the installation of decorative pieces by Abu Dhabi City Municipality to celebrate the United Arab Emirates' 52nd Union Day on December 2, 2023 (archived link).
According to the statement, the decorations were placed along notable locations, including "Abu Dhabi Corniche Street".
Street level imagery available on the KartaView platform shows the falsely shared video corresponds to the intersection of Corniche Street and Mubarak Bin Mohammed Street in Abu Dhabi (archived link).
AFP has repeatedly debunked anti-Muslim misinformation circulating in India.
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