The claim appeared after India started a marathon six-week basic election on April 19, 2024 in the biggest democratic workout worldwide.
Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his judgment Bharatiya Janata Celebration is extensively anticipated to win the surveys, however opposition celebrations have actually condemned him for anti-Muslim remarks in election project speeches that have actually increased issues over sectarian stress in India.
He has actually referred in project rallies to Muslims as “moles” and declared the primary opposition Congress celebration would rearrange the country’s wealth to Muslims if it won.
Comparable posts sharing the very same video on X here and here likewise implicated the Gandhis of providing over the temple to Muslims.
However the video in reality reveals a now-defunct temple in Pakistan.
Old temple in Pakistan
A keyword search on Google followed by a search on YouTube discovered the initial video was published by a Pakistani vlogger on August 10, 2023, with sticker label text that checked out “Seeta Ram mandir end up being chicken store in Pakistan” (archived link).
Below is a screenshot contrast of the video in the incorrect posts (left) and the initial YouTube video (right):
The very same YouTube user published another video on August 25, 2023, which reveals a Hindi-speaking guy informing audiences he would take them on a trip of the now-defunct Seeta Ram temple in Ahmadpur Sial, a city in main Pakistan’s Punjab province (archived link).
The temple in Ahmadpur Sial can be discovered on Google Maps here (archived link).
Images of the temple published to Google Maps by users match the structure seen in the videos of the Seeta Ram Mandir (archived link).
Below is a screenshot contrast of the structure seen in the video (left) and a picture of the temple seen on Google Maps (best), with resemblances marked by AFP:
Pakistan-based human rights activist Kapil Dev likewise verified the temple’s place in the nation’s Ahmadpur Sial city.
“This temple is not practical any longer,” he informed AFP on Might 9, 2024. Kapil discussed lots of comparable temples in Punjab ended up being defunct after Hindus left Pakistan for India following the subcontinent’s partition in 1947.
AFP has actually exposed false information swirling around India’s elections here.
