Lighthouse Journalism came across a post being widely shared on social media platforms that claimed that descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Kolhapur’s Congress MP, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj was seen seeking apology from Muslim Community members after a dargah in Vishalgad was demolished. During the investigation we found the post to be misleading.
Claim:
X user Anand Varma shared the viral post on his profile.
Check the archive version of the post here.
Other users too are sharing the post with the same claim.
Investigation:
We started our investigation with a reverse image search on the image being shared with misleading claims. We found a post on X by user Comrade, who posted that the image shows a woman informing the MP about her stolen earrings.
We then ran a keyword search on X, this led us to a post by Adv Anand Dasa.
The post mentioned: Congress MPs Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj and Satej Patil went to Vishalgarh and thwarted the conspiracy of social activists, Chhatrapati is being defamed for one reason or another.
We then ran a keyword search in Marathi and found a video being uploaded on the YouTube channel of Mumbai Tak five days ago.
The video was titled: Shahu Chhatrapati рдпрд╛рдВрдирд╛ рдорд╣рд┐рд▓рд╛рдВрдЪрд╛ рдШреЗрд░рд╛рд╡, рд╡рд┐рд╢рд╛рд│рдЧрдб рдЧрдЬрд╛рдкреВрд░рдордзреНрдпреЗ рдкреЛрд╣реЛрдЪрддрд╛рдЪ рдЯрд╛рд╣реЛ рдлреЛрдбрд▓рд╛, рд╕рдЧрд│рд╛ рдерд░рд╛рд░ рд╕рд╛рдВрдЧрд┐рддрд▓рд╛
Translation: Women gherao Shahu Chhatrapati, women complain as soon as he reached Vishalgad Gajapur
It was around the 1 min 40 sec mark that the Congress MP was seen holding his ears. After we listened carefully, the woman was heard saying, “They entered her house and snatched away her earrings.” (Iske ghar me ghus kar kaan me se iska nikal ke le gaye).
The title mentioned that the video was from Gajapur. We found a report that stated, communal violence sparked recently in the Gajapur village of Kolhapur district.
Conclusion: Kolhapur’s Congress MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj did not apologise to the members of Muslim community by holding his ears. A woman was narrating an incident of how her earrings were snatched. Viral claims are misleading.