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| - Fact Check: No, Indian flag was NOT removed to hoist Islamic flag in Jodhpur's Jalori Gate
While local Muslim groups hoisted Islamic flags on a roundabout alongside the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa, the clashes reportedly were caused following the alleged removal of a saffron flag.
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India Today Fact Check
Ahead of Eid, Muslims unfurled Islamic flags around the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa where a saffron flag that was put there ahead of Parshuram Jayanti had gone missing. This is believed to be the trigger.
Hindus and Muslims clashed in Rajasthan's Jodhpur hours before Eid on Tuesday, May 3. Amid this, a video of Islamic flags at the Jalori Gate went viral on social media with the claim that clashes broke out after Muslims replaced the Indian national flag with Islamic ones.
Many shared the video with claims like, “Islamic goons replace Indian national flag with Islamic flag at #Jodhpur.”
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the claim was misleading. While local Muslim groups hoisted Islamic flags on a roundabout alongside the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa, the clashes reportedly were caused following the alleged removal of a saffron flag.
AFWA Probe
When we checked, we did not find any credible report that said the people replaced the Indian flag with an Islamic flag in Jodhpur’s Jalori Gate.
The Press Trust of India, the Times of India, and others reported that the initial altercation was triggered by hoisting of Islamic flags around the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa where a saffron flag that was put there ahead of Parshuram Jayanti had gone missing.
Speaking to India Today, Additional Director General (Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumaria said, “There were flags of Lord Parashuram near the area where namaz is offered. There was a dispute about removing the flags as the local Muslim community puts up a flag on the occasion of Eid. While police tried to disperse the crowd, tension escalated and there was stone-pelting.”
In a tweet, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Rajasthan State President Satish Poonia also said that the Islamic flag was raised replacing a saffron flag. ”The Islamic flag was raised on the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa ji in Jodhpur by lowering the saffron flag and how the violence was carried out clearly shows the appeasement attitude of the Congress party government. This attitude will be the biggest reason for their sinking,” Poonia said.
pic.twitter.com/OtpUyInu6R — Satish Poonia (@DrSatishPoonia) May 3, 2022
We then searched for older images of Balmukund Bissa's statue to confirm whether there was a permanent Indian national flag hoisted next to it before Parashuram Jayanti.
Multiple images of the statue are available on Google Maps. However, none of them showed the Indian flag there.
Two images from the area, one clicked in 2019 and the other in April 2022 can be seen below. They show that the Indian flag was not a permanent fixture at Jalori Gate. We reached out to our Jodhpur bureau which confirmed the same.
Timeline
The timeline of Jodhpur violence as explained by India Today’s Jodhpur bureau is as follows:
May 1: Parashuram Jayanti was celebrated at Jalori Gate.
May 2: One-day permission granted for loudspeakers and Islamic flags to Eid celebrants.
May 2, 7:00 pm: Islamic flags hoisted at Jalori Gate.
May 2, 9:00 pm: Rumors spread of the Pakistan flag hoisted at Jalori Gate. Two local channels reported that the freedom fighter’s statue at Jalori Gate was vandalised. At the time of writing this, there was no evidence to back up either allegation.
May 3, 12:00 am: BJP members, reacting to the rumours, removed flags and loudspeakers from Jalori Gate.
May 3, 1:00 am: Communal clashes broke out and people pelted stones.
May 3, 1:30 am: Police lathi-charged the crowd and even used tear gas.
May 3: 8:30 am: Fresh violence broke out over the allegedly missing saffron flag. Muslims who arrived at Jolri Gate on their way to offer Eid namaz saw a saffron flag hosted there. This led to further stone-pelting and vandalism.
Rajasthan: Ruckus in Jodhpur's Jalori Gate area pic.twitter.com/6IGhmVmmPX — ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) May 3, 2022
May 3: The local administration replaced the saffron flag with an Indian flag.
Rajasthan | Morning visuals from Jodhpur city where curfew was imposed by the dist administration till midnight of May 4 after clashes erupted b/w two groups yesterday
Sufficient force is present here. Students appearing for exams are allowed to go out: Raghunath Garg, ADCP pic.twitter.com/1avN4COiFK — ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) May 4, 2022
It was hence clear that the Indian flag was not removed from Jalori Gate by Muslims who hoised Islamic flags.
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