This video has circulated online since March 2020 -- months before the Diwali festival in November

This article is more than one year old.
Published on December 21, 2020 at 08:30
2 min read
By AFP India

A video showing crowds of people igniting firecrackers has been viewed thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim it shows Diwali celebrations in the west Indian state of Rajasthan, despite a ban on the sale of firecrackers to the public. The claim is false; this video has circulated online since March 2020, some eight months before Diwali, in reports about an unrelated festival in Rajasthan.

The 26-second video was published here on Facebook on November 17, 2020.

A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post

The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government has banned fire-crackers on Diwali. Then what, the Rajputs celebrated Diwali in their own ways. Hail Hinduism, hail Rajputana.”

Ashok Gehlot is the chief minister of the western state of Rajasthan, where the Indian National Congress is the majority party.

On November 2, 2020, the state government imposed a blanket ban on the sale and use of firecrackers during the Hindu festival of Diwali, which was celebrated on November 14 in 2020.

“Rajput” is the name of a caste among Hindus in India.

The video was also shared alongside an identical claim on Facebook here and here.

The claim is false.

A reverse image search on Google of keyframes extracted from the video in the misleading posts found an identical video published here on YouTube dated March 12, 2020.</a></p> <p>The video caption states that the clip shows people celebrating <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/this-village-marks-holi-with-firearms-crackers/articleshow/57638929.cms" target="_blank">Jamra Beej</a>, an ancient Hindu festival, in the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/Menar,+Rajasthan+313602/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3967ce14ac8efcff:0xdaa36630004612d0?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiglfqBuNPtAhVHdCsKHUgjDnYQ8gEwAHoECAQQAQ" target="_blank">Menar</a> village of Rajasthan. </p> <p>Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the YouTube video (R):</p> <div class="wrapper-image"> <div class="field field--name-field-media-image field--type-image field--label-visually_hidden"> <div class="field__label visually-hidden">Image</div> <div class="field__item"> <img loading="lazy" src="/sites/default/files/styles/image_in_article/public/medias/factchecking/india/befunky-collage_11_7.jpg?itok=YodVhng6" width="1100" height="1100" class="img-fluid image-style-image-in-article" /> </div> </div> </div> <p>Celebrations in Menar in March 2020 were also reported by other Indian media, including broadcasters <a href="https://hindi.news18.com/news/rajasthan/udaipur-guns-and-colours-at-holi-of-valour-in-menar-village-an-epic-holi-celebration-in-rajasthan-rjks-rjsc-2929075.html" target="_blank">News 18</a> and <a href="https://zeenews.india.com/hindi/india/rajasthan/holi-celebration-with-gunpowder-in-menar-village-of-udaipur/652924" target="_blank">Zee News</a> here and here, and the Bhaskar newspaper <a href="https://zeenews.india.com/hindi/india/rajasthan/holi-celebration-with-gunpowder-in-menar-village-of-udaipur/652924" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> </body></html>

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