Old video from India misrepresented as sectarian violence in Nepal

Published on August 11, 2026 at 11:19
2 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

Footage of men climbing to the top of a mosque's minaret and attempting to hoist a saffron flag has been falsely shared in social media posts claiming it shows Hindus vandalising a mosque during religious violence in southern Nepal in late July 2026. The footage has circulated since February 2020, and in fact shows a mosque that was vandalised in Delhi's Ashok Nagar area during deadly sectarian clashes.

"After Muslim jihadist extremists pelted stones at a Hindu procession, Hindus became furious and vandalised a mosque before setting it on fire," says part of the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook video shared on August 1, 2026.

The video shows men ripping off the muezzin's loudspeaker on top of the mosque's minaret and placing a Hindu religious flag and an Indian flag.

Screenshot of the false post captured on August 5, 2026, with a red X added by AFP

The clip also circulated in similar Instagram and X posts as violence between Hindu and Muslim communities in several towns in southern Nepal left at least three people dead and dozens injured (archived link).

The violence began late on July 26 in a village in the southern Sunsari district, which borders India, after an argument over loud music and the use of religious flags during a Hindu procession, according to officials.

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah, who has kept a low profile since being elected in March, broke his silence to deliver his first address to the nation, calling on his countrymen to be "responsible citizens and remove the clouds of unrest".

The circulating video, however, is several years old and in fact occurred in India's capital New Delhi.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to the same clip shared on X on February 25, 2020 (archived link).

The video is captioned: "Update Ashok Nagar, Delhi 6.00pm: A mosque has been vandalized by Hindutva terror forces, as they brazenly revisit their demolition tactics."

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (L) and the X clip from February 2020

Similar visuals were also shared in media reports about sectarian violence that erupted in Delhi in February 2020 (archived here and here).

These clashes began on February 24, 2020 amid worsening religious tensions following a citizenship law that critics said was part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist agenda (archived link). Supporters and detractors of the citizenship law then descended into pitched battles between the mobs.

The riots, among the worst communal violence in the capital in decades, left at least 27 people dead and more than 200 injured.

Local fact-checking organisation BOOM Live reported on February 27, 2020 that the mosque shown in the falsely shared clip was located in Delhi's Ashok Nagar area (archived link).

AFP photos from the time also show the damaged mosque.

A man speaks on his mobile phone as he walks past a burnt-out mosque and shops following clashes between people supporting and opposing a contentious amendment to India's citizenship law, in New Delhi on February 26, 2020. (AFP / Sajjad HUSSAIN)

AFP has previously debunked other false claims about religious violence in Nepal.

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