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| - Fact Check: Did Lucknow school play show 'Bharat Mata' being made to offer namaz? Clip shared out of context
A video of school students performing in a play has gone viral on social media, with the claim that the students removed a crown from a girl dressed as "Bharat Mata" and made her offer namaz.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a clipped video. The original video shows the same girl offering prayers as per the religious customs of Hinduism, Sikhism, and Christianity as well.
As India celebrated its 76th Independence Day on August 15, a video of school students performing in a play was widely shared on social media.
The video shows a girl dressed in a sari and a crown surrounded by boys and girls dressed up in skull caps and hijabs. As the video progresses, the students in skull caps remove the crown from the head of the girl supposedly dressed as “Bharat Mata”. They are then seen putting a scarf on her head and all of them start offering namaz.
Those sharing the video claimed this video was from the Shishu Bharti Vidyalay in Malviya Nagar, Aishbagh, Lucknow. They also asked for strict action against the school for depicting such a scene in a children’s play.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Abhijat Mishra shared this video, tagging Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seeking his attention on the matter. He has since deleted his tweet.
Archived versions of the post can be seen here.
AFWA's investigation found that the viral video was trimmed out of context to give it a false and communal spin.
AFWA Probe
When we searched online, we found a two-minute-20-second-long video of the same play that was recorded from another angle. Arvind Chauhan, a Times of India journalist, shared this video.
Here is the complete video of the students offering prayers in various ways (as per the religions)#Lucknow https://t.co/OS99RE0ie8 pic.twitter.com/DIsHq9GB4m — Arvind Chauhan (Silly Soul | ) (@Arv_Ind_Chauhan) August 15, 2022
This video clearly shows how the play featured different groups of students denoting different religious groups offering prayers as per Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian customs, along with the girl in the sari. It did not just show students removing the crown and making the girl in the sari offer namaz.
Subsequent searches led us to a tweet by the Lucknow Police Commissionerate on August 15 confirming that the viral video was clipped from the original context to give it a communal spin. It further stated that action is being taken against those who shared the clipped video.
@Uppolice pic.twitter.com/t8a6Ws5B6b — POLICE COMMISSIONERATE LUCKNOW (@lkopolice) August 15, 2022
AWFA reached out to Sunil Sharma, an additional CP in the Lucknow Police Commissionerate. He said, "Following an investigation, we found that on the occasion of Independence Day, the play was staged by children where prayers of all the religions were performed. But someone shared the clipped video on social media. We are taking cognisance of the matter, and action will be taken."
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that a viral video from Lucknow's school was shared with a false and communal twist.
(With inputs from Sanjana Saxena and Satyam Mishra)
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