A video showing the screening of a documentary in Maharashtra, on the Babri mosque, is being shared with a false claim that the film was played in Bangladesh on December 6, the anniversary of the demolition of the masjid, to provoke Muslims against minority Hindus.
BOOM found that the viral video is not from Bangladesh but from Mumbra, Maharashtra. The screening was organised by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) on December 6, 2024 in Mumbra, Thane. SDPI Mumbra general secretary Sarfaraz Shaikh also confirmed to BOOM that the documentary was screened in Mumbra.
In the viral video we can see visuals of a film related to Babri Masjid being played on a big screen on the roadside. This documentary gives a brief history of the Babri Masjid and Ram Janmabhoomi dispute with a timeline of events.
The video is being shared on X with the caption when translated reads, "What is the purpose of showing the demolition of Babri Masjid by installing big screens in Bangladesh! It is painful to provoke the Muslim community against Hindus.."
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FACT-CHECK: Viral Video of Babri Documentary screening from Mumbra, Maharashtra
BOOM found that the incident in the viral video is from Mumbra, Thane in Maharashtra, and not from Bangladesh.
In the viral video, we found the name 'Social Democratic Party of India' written at the bottom of the screen. SDPI is a political party based in India.
The flag in the video also matches the party flag of SDPI.
Viral video posted by SDPI Mumbra on anniversary of Babri Mosque demolition
A reverse image search with the key frames of the viral video showed that it was uploaded by the YouTube channel Buland Awaaz on December 6, 2024 . The title states that this documentary was shown in Mumbra on December 6, on the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
Using related keywords, we found a similar video of this screening on X and Instagram handles of SDPI Mumbra.
We also found another video on this event that was posted by SDPI Mumbra's General Secretary Sarfaraz Sheikh appealing to people to attend the event on the anniversary of the demolition. The place and location of the screening mentions that the documentary would be shown in Mumbra, Thane.
SDPI Mumbra confirms location of screening
BOOM then reached out to Sheikh who confirmed that the video was from Mumbra and the film was screened by SDPI in the city.
Sheikh told BOOM, "The claim of Bangladesh with the video is just a rumour. SDPI protests every year on December 6 in memory of the Babri demolition. In this connection, we had organised this exhibition." He further added, "Through this we tried to show the entire timeline of Babri. This event was organised near Darul Falah Mosque located near Accord Naka in Mumbra area."