'Quran burning' video actually shows Himachal chief minister's effigy
A video has recently spread on Facebook claiming that the Quran is being burned in India. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found the claim to be false. It is a video of the burning of the chief minister’s effigy during a protest in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, on August 25.
On November 7, the video was posted from a Facebook page named “Pulse” (পালস-Pulse). The 13-second video shows some people pouring fuel and lighting a fire on a road. Scarves can be seen around the necks of a few of them. The post claimed, “Extremist Hindus are bu’rn’ing the Quran Sharif in India” (verbatim). As of the report’s publication, the post had received more than 6,800 reactions. The video had been shared more than 4,700 times and viewed nearly 400,000 times.
To verify the claim, Dismislab conducted a reverse image search on keyframes of the video. This found a 13-second video of the same scene on a Facebook profile named “HimBhoomi Dialogues.” The post, dated August 25, read, “Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (the youth wing of the BJP) protests in Mandi, effigy of the chief minister burned” (translated from Hindi). The post further stated that police tried to extinguish the fire by pouring water. The workers then poured oil again.
On the same day, the Facebook page of the local news outlet “Khabar Abhi Abhi” also published a video of the same incident.
Another video of the same incident, shot from a different angle, was found on a Facebook profile named “Adv Yograj Dogra.” The user, who claims to be the Mandi district president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, published the video on August 27. The 55-second video shows BJP flags, workers wearing scarves, and police personnel. The same person wearing a white cap can be seen in both videos. The caption read, “Burning of the effigy of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, organized by the BJP Yuva Morcha of Mandi district, in protest against toying with the future of the youth” (translated from Hindi). Neither of the two videos mentions any burning of the Quran.
Multiple reports on this incident can be found in Indian media. On August 25, ETV Bharat reported that a protest took place in Mandi town over allegations of unemployment and of the Congress government’s failure to fulfill its employment guarantees. At the protest, BJP Yuva Morcha workers burned the chief minister’s effigy. When police tried to extinguish the fire by pouring water, workers poured oil and relit it. The same day, Himachal Dastak reported that workers scuffled with police while the effigy was being burned. After oil was poured, the workers’ clothes also caught fire.
A report published by Amar Ujala on August 26 stated that the protest began around 12 pm near the gate of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The workers marched through the town. The Tribune also published a report the same day. It stated that Yograj Dogra, district president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, alleged that before the election, Congress had spoken of 10 guarantees. These included 100,000 jobs every year. None of the four reports mentions the burning of the Quran or any other religious text.
In other words, the video does not show the burning of the Quran. It shows the burning of the chief minister’s effigy in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, on August 25.
The same claim has spread before, and FactWatch and AFP Fact Check have also published fact-check reports on it.
