No, this video does not show Pakistan flags being waved in India by supporters of the opposition Indian National Congress party
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 12, 2019 at 05:45
- 4 min read
- By AFP India
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Multiple online posts have shared the 25-second clip, for example here where it has been shared more than 500 times since it was published to Facebook March 27, 2019, and here where it has been viewed around 6,000 times since it was published March 26.
The post’s caption says: “Rahul to fight elections in Wayanad, Kerala. Look who is celebrating in Wayanad waving Pakistan flags. Now you know why Congress selected this constituency.”
Rahul refers to Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition Congress party. He is standing as a candidate in Wayanad district in the southern state of Kerala in India's general election which began April 11, 2019. Here is an AFP report on the polls.
Here is an affidavit on the Election Commission of India website, signed by Gandhi, that states his constituency and here is a tweet from Gandhi’s verified account dated April 4, 2019, saying he has filed his nomination in Wayanad.
The same video and claim has been shared repeatedly on Facebook for example here, on Twitter here and on YouTube here.
Below is a screenshot of one of the misleading posts:
Pakistan’s national flag is green with a white star and crescent on it, but it also has a distinct large white stripe on its side.
Below is an AFP photo of the Pakistan flag:
The flags that appear in the video are not the same as the Pakistan flag; they do not have the white stripe.
The image below contains multiple screenshots from different points in the video, showing the green flags being waved by the crowd:
In the clip shared in the Facebook posts, there is a black and red logo in the top right-hand corner that says “News18” in English with the word “Kerala” written below in the local language.
News18 Kerala is a local-language news TV channel, which is part of major national English-language network CNN-News18.
Searching on the official YouTube channel of News18 Kerala here found this original video published March 26, 2019, embedded below:
The News18 Kerala report is about the possibility of Gandhi contesting the elections in Wayanad.
The misleading clip and similar footage appears in the original video in three sections – from 5 minutes 50 seconds, from 13 minutes 29 seconds and again from 18 minutes 04 seconds.
The image below compares screenshots from the false Facebook post (L) with screenshots from the original News18 video, with the similar elements circled in white by AFP:
The green flag with star and crescent being waved in the clip is of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) political party.
Below is an image comparing a screenshot of the IUML flag highlighted in red being waved in the video (L) and the party flag on the party’s official letterhead in India’s election commission website here (R) :
Below is a screenshot of the party’s official website with their flag circled in red.
IMUL is an ally of the Congress party in Kerala state for the upcoming elections, as reported here by thenewsminute.com and here by The Hindu.
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