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No, These Shop Boards in Karnataka Were Not Damaged for Being 'Saffron-Coloured'

The video could be traced back to February and shows BBMP workers destroying signboards in English.

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A video which shows several people damaging a signboard of a shop is being shared to claim that the incident took place in Karnataka, where people damaged them because the shop carried saffron flags and saffron-coloured boards

What do the viral posts say?: The video is being widely shared with a caption in Hindi, which loosely translates to, "By voting for Congress, you cannot use saffron colour in your shop, home, locality, temple etc. - Karnataka."

The video could be traced back to February and shows BBMP workers destroying signboards in English.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(You can view archives of similar claims here and here.)

Are these claims true?: The claims are false. The video shows people workers from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) destroying signboards that were in English, and not in Kannada.

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What led us to the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the keyframes of the video and found a similar video uploaded on an Instagram handle named 'bengalurublr'.

  • The video was shared on 24 February and its caption mentioned that several BBMP staff were seen breaking down English signboards.

  • While the video was shorter than the viral one, it carried visuals of the staff members bringing down English letters from the 'Burger King' shop as well.

  • It should be noted that the 'Burger King' shop did not carry any flag or signs in saffron colour.

News reports: We found a news bulletin shared on the official YouTube channel of India Today that carried similar visuals as the viral clip.

  • The video was published on 23 February with a title that said, "Bengaluru's Language War: BBMP Cracks Down on English Signboards Ahead of Deadline."

  • Its description said that the civic body had cracked down on shops carrying English signboards, ahead of the deadline which was set at 28 February.

  • Several officers claimed to continue targeting shops and establishments because they did not display 60 percent of their signage in Kannada.

  • The bulletin showed authorities bringing down English signboards of several commercial establishments.

  • A report in Deccan Herald said that the BBMP had suspended one of its health officers who ordered his staff to damage English nameboards.

  • The action was taken by the body after several videos went viral on social media showing BBMP staff tearing down English letters from signboards.

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The Quint has reached out to the owner of the shop with the saffron-coloured board and will update this report with their inputs if received.

Conclusion: It is evident that the video is being shared with a false communal angle.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)

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Topics:  Bengaluru   KARNATAKA   Fact Check 

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