Lighthouse Journalism found a video being widely shared on social media platforms. It was being claimed in the post that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra had registered a temple in Wayanad in the name of Muslims, four years ago. During the investigation we found that the video was from Pakistan and not India.
Claim:
X user Swami Ramsarnacharya Pandey shared the viral post on his profile.
Check the archive version of the claim.
Other users too are sharing the same claim along with the video.
Investigation:
We started our investigation by uploading the video in the InVid tool. We then ran a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained from the video.
We found a reel on Instagram, the caption suggested that the video features Sita Ram temple in Pakistan.
We then ran a Google keyword search and found a video on YouTube channel MyNation, uploaded four months ago.
The video was titled: Conversion of Sita-Ram temple in Pakistan’s Ahmadpur Sial to chicken shop sparks outrage
The description of the video uploaded in December 2023, said: The conversion of the Sita Ram temple into a chicken shop is being viewed as not merely an act of vandalism, but a clear violation of the right to freedom of religion and a blatant disregard for the cultural diversity that is an integral part of Pakistan’s identity.
We also found several news reports about the same.
The report mentioned: The Sita-Ram temple carried immense historical and cultural significance as it was built over a century ago and served as a place of worship for the Hindus in the region, reported News Intervention.
We also found a post on Facebook.
Conclusion: A four month old video of a historic Sita Ram temple in Pakistan being converted to a chicken shop is being widely shared as that of Wayanad. Viral claim is false.
