The video has actually circulated online since 2016

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 20, 2019 at 10:00
2 min read
By AFP India

A video showing people shouting anti-Pakistan slogans and burning the Pakistani flag has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts in August 2019 which claim it shows Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian government scrapped the state’s special status. The claim is false; the footage has circulated online since at least 2016.

The 1:25 video was shared in this August 10, 2019 Facebook post where it has been viewed over 190,000 times since.

The Hindi-language caption says: “How much Jammu and Kashmir has changed, how much enthusiasm has come in Kashmiri people. See yourself if you still do not believe.”

The caption is referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir since New Delhi revoked the semi-autonomous status of the state by a presidential order on August 5, 2019.

People in the video can be heard shouting “down with Pakistan” and “long live India” in Hindi.

Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:

Screenshot of misleading Facebook post

The video has also been shared elsewhere on Facebook, for example here, here, here and here with the same claim.

The video was also shared here on YouTube on August 11, 2019, alongside a similar claim.

The same video has been also shared in other Facebook posts which claim it shows people in Pakistan-administered Kashmir chanting anti-Pakistan and pro-India slogans, for example here, here and here.

The caption of this misleading Facebook post says: “Hundreds of thousands Kashmiris took to the streets yesterday in Pak occupied Kashmir to liberate their land from Pak.. One of Kashmiris requested to spread this video all over the world as Indian media did not cover such a huge rally. So, please share as much as possible,” reads a caption alongside the video in the above Facebook's post.

All the claims are false; the footage has circulated online since 2016 in reports about protests after a militant attack on security forces in Uri town of Indian-administered Kashmir on 18 September, 2016.

A reverse image search on Google using keyframes from the video obtained using video analysis tool InVID found the same video was published here on YouTube on September 27, 2016.

The caption in Hindi on the YouTube post says: “The Kashmiris will be ashamed after watching what these Muslims brother did.”

The video was also published here and here on YouTube respectively on September 30 and October 6, 2016.

It was also shared here on another video streaming platform Daily Motion on September 30, 2016 and here on Facebook on October 2, 2016.

“Indian Muslims burning Pakistan flag after Pak-India clash on LOC,” says a caption alongside the Daily Motion video.

LOC stands for the Line of Control, the de facto border between Pakistan and India in the disputed Kashmir valley.

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