A video showing a man distributing saffron scarves to women while he is being made to apologise to them is going viral on social media.
The claim states that the man is a Muslim teacher from a Christian school who forced the girls to offer namaz in the school and later was asked to apologise and hand saffron scarves to them.
However, we found that the video is from a PVR theatre in Maharashtra's Nashik. The man distributing saffron scarves was part of the theatre's management team who had allegedly asked some women to remove saffron stoles that they wore when they came to watch The Kashmir Files, leading to a scuffle.
We also contacted a local journalist and police who denied the claims made in the viral posts.
CLAIM
The caption along with the video says, "महाराष्ट्र के ईसाई स्कूल में एक मुस्लिम टीचर ने जबरन लड़कियों को स्कूल में नमाज पढ़वाई थी। फिर राज ठाकरे की मनसेना के कार्यकर्ता ने उसी मुस्लिम के पास से केसरिया खेस पहनवाया🚩🚩🚩जय श्री राम 🚩"
[Translation: In a Christian school in Maharashtra, a Muslim teacher forced girls to offer namaz in the school. Then the workers of Raj Thackeray's MNS forced him to give a saffron scarf to everyone. Jai Shri Ram.]
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On conducting a keyword search on Google using 'man distributed saffron scarf to women', we came across a Hindustan Times report.
The report stated that a fight broke out at a cinema hall in Nashik, Maharashtra on 23 March, after some women, who went to watch The Kashmir Files wearing saffron stoles were allegedly asked to remove them by the management, to which they objected.
According to ANI, the matter escalated to a scuffle between the theatre's management and the group of women.
The report mentioned that the brawl took place between the women and the cinema hall's management.
(Source: HT/Screenshot)
The same keyword search also led us to an ANI tweet. The tweet had images that included the man seen in the viral video.
The same man was noticed in the viral video and the ANI tweet.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
Other media reports about the same incident are published in The Times of India, Deccan Herald, and The Print.
The Quint contacted a local reporter who revealed that this incident took place at PVR Cinemas on College Road in Nashik. He also added that the women who decided to wear saffron scarves in the theatre to watch The Kashmir Files are members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
We also confirmed with a police officer about the incident that took place at PVR Cinemas, College Road, who confirmed that the man involved was from the theatre's management. He added that he was made to distribute the saffron scarves to the women after they arrived at PVR to watch The Kashmir Files.
Evidently, a video showing a scuffle at a Nashik theatre was shared on social media by giving it a communal colour.
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