Old Video of Karnataka Priests’ Fight Shared With a False Claim

The video is from 2015 when an argument broke out between priests and government officials over a collection box.

An old video wherein an argument happened between the priests of Kolaramma temple and government officers over the installation of hundi has resurfaced with misleading claims.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Several social media users have shared an old video claiming that it is from a Karnataka temple when government officials came to collect hundi – a collection box where devotees offer money – and priests asked them to get the donations from church and mosque.

However, the video in question is old from 2015 when an argument broke out between priests of Kolaramma temple in Kolar and government officials over the installation of hundi.

You can view the archived version here.

CLAIM

The video shows some priests allegedly having an argument and throwing the donation box of the temple.

It is being shared to show how a “change” has been started in “Ram Rajya.” The video shared by one Twitter user “#RamRajya Begins” had garnered over 73,000 views at the time of publishing the article.

You can view the archived version here.

Writer Advaita had shared the same video claiming that priests in Karnataka have started removing donation boxes. Her tweet had garnered over one lakh views and over 6,000 retweets.

You can view the archived version here.

The video found its way to Facebook as well with user Sanjay Dwivedi questioning why government steals money from Hindus only. His post, too, received massive engagement with over seven lakh views and 26,000 shares.

You can view the archived version here.

Regular fake news peddler Postcard, too, joined the bandwagon and shared a series of screenshots of the video with the same narrative.

You can view the archived version here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Several users replied to one of the viral tweets and mentioned that it is an old video from 2015.

A Twitter user pointed out that the video is from 2015.

Some even pointed out that the temple seen in the video is Kolar’s Kolaramma temple in Karnataka.

A Twitter user mentioned that the incident is from Kolaramma temple in Kolar.

We searched on Facebook using keywords “kolaramma temple” and found that a Facebook user ‘Sagar N Kolar’ had uploaded the same video in 2015.

The same video was uploaded on Facebook in 2015 as well.

Fact-checking website Alt News came across a Twitter thread wherein the user had cited an article published in regional newspaper Prajavani in October 2015, to claim that the said incident is old.

A Twitter user shared a Prajavani article mentioning that it has the details of the incident.

The Prajavani article mentioned that on a high court order, the then district Collector Dr KV Trilokachandra had arrived at the temple along with Muzrai department officials.

Muzrai department governs over 34,000 temples in Karnataka, The Hindu reported.

The altercation between the priests and the officials happened over the installation of a hundi – collection box hcplaced in temples where devotees offer money. The article stated that the priests had appealed to the High Court to remove the hundi, however, the court ordered that it should be installed.

We spoke to a reporter at Prajavani newspaper who covers Kolar region. He confirmed to us that the video is of the same incident and also said that the argument was over the installation of hundi.

“No, there was nothing like priests asked government officials to take donation money from church and mosque. The argument was only over the installation of hundi. The priests were against its installation and officials wanted the installation of hundi,” Kolar correspondent of Prajavani newspaper said.

Evidently, an old video of a fight between priests of Kolaramma temple in Kolar and government officials has resurfaced with a false claim.

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