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| - Fact Check: Visual from PM Modi's rally passed off as protest in Assam against Bangladesh violence
An image of a massive gathering is viral on social media with the claim that Hindus from all over Assam have assembled at the Bangladesh border against the violence.
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India Today Fact Check
It is true that thousands had gathered recently at Assam’s Barak Valley to protest against the anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh. But this particular picture is from PM Modi’s 2019 rally in Mangalore, Karnataka.
The anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh has triggered strong reactions across the border in Assam and West Bengal. Thousands of people gathered at Assam’s Barak Valley recently to protest against the targetted attacks against minorities in Bangladesh.
Amid this, an image of a massive gathering is viral on social media with the claim that Hindus from all over Assam have assembled at the Bangladesh border against the violence.
The claim in Bengali translates to, “Massive tension along the Assam-Bangladesh border! Hindus from Barak to Guwahati have risen to protest the ongoing mass murder of Hindus in Bangladesh. Red alert issued along the India-Bangladesh border and Muslim areas near the border. Hail Lord Rama. Wake up Hindus. #SaveBangladeshiHindus”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that this particular picture is from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2019 rally in Mangalore, Karnataka. Also, Assam Police have sounded an alert recently but that is due to possible terror strikes by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror outfit al-Qaeda.
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Tracing the sea of saffron
Using reverse image search, we found that the viral image was posted by several Twitter users in April 2019. These users had claimed that it was a visual of massive crowds that had gathered to listen to PM Modi on April 13, 2019, at Nehru Maidan in Mangalore.
As per news reports, PM Modi was canvassing for BJP before the Lok Sabha polls that year. The media outlets also published several pictures and videos of a similar crowd.
But we could not find the viral picture in any media report. So we tried to geo-locate the place and identify the elements in the photograph with the original ground where the rally was organised.
In the viral image, we can see a two-storied building at the far end of the ground. We tried to locate this building in the videos and images of the Mangalore rally.
We found a similar two-storied building in one of the rally visuals Twitter user.
Screen grab of video
Viral image
We then tried to identify and match the building, trees and other structures seen in the viral picture with a Google street view image of Nehru Maidan.
The key elements of the viral picture match with the street view image of Nehru Maidan. The only discrepancy is the multi-storied building which is visible behind the two-storied structure. But this could be because the viral picture was taken in 2019, while the Google street view image was clicked almost two years later in March 2021.
Therefore, it is confirmed that the viral picture of the massive crowd is not from the protests in Assam. It was taken at one of PM Modi’s rallies in Mangalore in 2019.
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