Video Falsely Shows Kumbh Mela as Pro-CAA Rally in Haridwar

A video showing a gathering Hindu ascetics is being shared as a pro-CAA rally in Haridwar.

A video showing a gathering of Hindu ascetics is being shared on social media with a claim that it is from a pro-CAA rally in Haridwar. 

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Ever since the protests against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act broke out in December 2019, the fake news factory has worked overtime on the issue.

CLAIM

In one such claim, a video showing a huge gathering of Hindu ascetics is being shared with the message that it shows a peaceful pro-CAA demonstration in Haridwar.

The claim along with the video reads, “A procession of Sadhus, Agoras, in Haidwar in support of Modi's CAA. No one knows where these people live and how they are receiving messages. No stone pelting, No Cruel slogans, No bus burning, No police Attack, No Pak zindabad, No public property damage (sic).”

The video is being massively shared on Facebook and Twitter.

An archived version of the video can be found here. 

An archived version of the Tweet can be found here. 

TRUE OR FALSE?

The Quint could confirm that the video is old and is being shared with a misleading claim. The video does not show peaceful pro-CAA protesters in Haridwar, but is from Allahabad’s Kumbh Mela and could be traced back to March 2019.

WHAT WE FOUND

We conducted a reverse image search using the Yandex search engine and came across several tweets which pointed that this video is from the 2019 Prayagraj Kumbh Mela.

Taking cues from there, we ran a Google keywords search using ‘Naga Sadhu Procession at Prayagraj Kumbh Mela 2019’ which guided us to several YouTube videos which in turn, helped us to trace the video back to March 2019.

We also got in touch with a local journalist who informed us that the video has no connection whatsoever with the CAA protests and is indeed from the Kumbh Mela held earlier in 2019. Hence, the video has been in circulation way before the CAA protests began.

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