Old Clip From Tamil Nadu Goes Viral as Protests Against 'Udaipur Files'

An old video from Krishnagiri showing a protest against the Waqf Act from April viral amidst Udaipur Files boycott

Fact-Check: This video is from Tamil Nadu, dating back to April.

(Source: The Quint) 

A video of a crowd doing a protest showing several men wearing skull caps is surfacing on the internet with a claim that it is a protest by people from the Muslim community against the upcoming movie Udaipur Files, based on the brutal killing of Kanhaiya Lal.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Facebook) 

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

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

• This video dates back to April and shows a protest in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, against the then Waqf Amendment Bill.

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

• It led us to an Instagram post featuring the same video from 7 May. This meant that the video, predated the current controversy around the release of the film.

An archive of the post can be found here. 

(Source: Instagram) 

• We, then, found a YouTube video dated 14 April which showed the same frames as the viral video.

• The video was titled "Khoob Naam.E.Mohammed Hai Aye Momino.Naat protest Wafp bill rejected Krishnagiri Anna sala." (sic.)

• We, then, ran a keyword search for Waqf protests and came across news reports around protest in Krishnagiri regarding Waqf Act in April.

• The Hindu reported on 14 April that Krishnagiri District All Jamaath and District Ulemas Federation organised a mass protest against the passing of the Waqf Amendment Act.

• The New Indian Express reported about the same that 1500 members joined the rally in Hosur, including members of several opposition parties, criticising Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) stance on minorities.

Google Maps Street View: We searched for the location of Krishnagiri on Google Maps and found the same visuals as the viral video.

Here is the location of the protest in Krishnagiri.

(Source: Google Maps)

Conclusion: The viral video is unrelated to the Udaipur Files controversy. In reality, it is from Tamil Nadu and dates back to April.

(Investigation and fact-check by Tanishq Khare.)

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