An out-of-context video of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot exiting a mosque has been shared by several social media users as "proof" of the Indian National Congress' anti-Hindu policies.
However, we found that the video, which dates back 2019, was from Baba Fakhruddin Dargah in Dungarpur. We also found that Gehlot had visited a temple in Galiakot the same day before visiting the dargah.
CLAIM
Several social media users shared the viral video with a Hindi caption that read, "राजस्थान के मुख्यमंत्री अशोक गहलोत जुम्मे की नमाज पढ़ने के बाद मस्जिद से बाहर आते हुए |"
[Translation: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot coming out of the mosque after offering Friday prayers.]
A Twitter user (@PradeepandeyBjp) added to the viral text and said, “काग्रेंस एक ऐसी सेकूलर पार्टी है जो हिंदुओं छलावा और हिंदुओं कि हत्या कराती है| मुस्लमानों से प्यार करती है|”
[Translation: Congress only cheats and kills Hindus but loves Muslims.]
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Sumitra Dahiya, the secretary of BJP Delhi, also shared the video and so did Jitendra Pratap Singh, a journalist with Sudarshan TV. In his tweet, Singh said that this video shows the "truth" of Congress party.
The same claim was shared by other users on Facebook and Twitter, archives of which can be found here, here and here.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
None of the claims specifed the date when the video was shot or when Gehlot visited the mosque. However, since no one in the video was wearing a mask, it seemed like the incident is not recent.
Using InVID WeVerify Google Chrome extension, we extracted keyframes from the video and conducted a reverse image search on some of the keyframes. In the search results, we came across a video posted on a news channel First India News Rajasthan's official YouTube channel.
The video was posted on 28 January 2019 and the caption when translated from Hindi said, “Ashok Gehlot reached Galiakot, then prayed at the dargah of Pir Fakhruddin Baba.”
In the video, one can see Gehlot visiting a temple (00:15 - 2:45) in Galiakot and then going to visit the dargah (2:46 - 8:45). He can be seen wearing the same clothes at both the places.
The information about his visit to Dungarpur has been documented on Gehlot’s official website, where it is mentioned that he visited Sheetla Mata temple followed by Galiakot Dargah.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Ashok Gehlot's Website/Screenshot)
We also found that the same video was previously shared in November 2020 with a claim that Gehlot has visited the mosque and offered prayers after banning firecrackers in Rajasthan.
The Rajasthan government had imposed a complete ban on the sale of firecrackers till 31 December 2020 to “protect citizen's health amid the COVID-19 pandemic”. Fact-checking organisation Boom had debunked the claim back then.
Therefore, an old video of Gehlot visiting a dargah has been shared without context to falsely claim that he visited a mosque insinuating that Gehlot and the Congress party are trying to appease Muslims.
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