Old, Unrelated Clip of a Crowd Viral as ‘Save Aravalli’ Protest in Rajasthan

We traced the video back to August and found that it is linked to a religious event, and not Aravalli protests.

Fact-Check: This video dates back to August and is not related to the 'Save Aravalli'  movement. 

(Source: The Quint) 

After the Supreme Court accepted the Union Environment Ministry’s definition of the Aravalli Hills, limiting it to landforms above 100 metres, a video showing a massive crowd is circulating on social media.

The clip is being shared with claims that they show farmers protesting in Rajasthan to save the Aravalli Hills.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Instagram) 

(Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is the claim true?: No, the claim is false.

• The video is from August and shows a religious gathering in Maharashtra. It is not related to the 'Save Aravalli' protests.

What we found: At first, we divided the viral clip into multiple screenshots and ran a Google reverse image search on some of them.

• It led us to a post featuring the same viral clip on Instagram from 2 August.

• The post's caption noted, "Gajanan Maharaj's palanquin leaves towards Shegaon from Khamgaon city" (sic.)

• We went through the Instagram page and found the YouTube channel's link in its 'bio section.'

• Team WebQoof found the longer version of this video on their YouTube channel which was uploaded on 31 July.

• The video's description noted, "Lakhs of devotees march with the palanquin, the palanquin of 'Shri' returns home.. Video of the palanquin taken by a drone camera between Khamgaon and Shegaon." (sic.)

Here is a preview of the post. 

(Source: YouTube) 

• We compared the two videos with one another and found similarities.

Here is the comparison between the two frames. 

(Source: Altered by The Quint) 

• A 30 July report by ABP Majha noted that the palanquin of Shri Sant Gajanan was on its way back and its last stop was Khamgaon.

Conclusion: An old and unrelated clip is being shared to falsely claim that it shows a 'Save Aravalli' protest.

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