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| - Fact Check: Images from Pune Buddhist event FALSELY shared as mass religious conversion in Jaipur
A socio-religious gathering in Pune was falsely shared as a mass conversion event in Jaipur, Rajasthan shortly after hundreds of Dalits across Delhi-NCR converted to Buddhism as part of the Buddha Dhamma Deeksha Samaroh on October 5.
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India Today Fact Check
These photos are not from Jaipur but from Pune, Maharastra. These were shot on October 15 during a socio-religious event organised by the Indian Buddhist Mahasabha. No mass conversions at the event were reported.
On October 5, hundreds of Dalits across Delhi-NCR converted to Buddhism as part of the Buddha Dhamma Deeksha Samaroh, an event organised by the Jai Bheem Mission, founded by the Aam Aadmi Party’s former social welfare minister Rajendra Pal Gautam. While the controversy surrounding the event continues to unfold, two photos have started making the rounds on social media. These photos allegedly show a similar mass conversion event in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
Those sharing the photos claimed that on October 16, one lakh people were initiated to Buddhism in Jaipur.
AFWA's investigation found that these photos are not from Jaipur. They’re from Pune, Maharastra, and shot during a “Dhamma Mela”, organised by the Indian Buddhist Mahasabha.
AFWA PROBE
First, we looked for news reports on recent mass conversions in Jaipur but found none. Following this, we reverse-searched the viral photos. This led us to multiple photos of an event shared by a Facebook page called “We Support Sujat Ambedkar” on October 15. There, we noticed similar photos as the ones going viral.
The Marathi caption of the album described the event as a “grand Dhamma gathering” organised by the Indian Buddhist Mahasabha in Pimpri Chinchwad on the occasion of the 66th Dhammachakra Pravartan Day.
A subsequent refined search led us to a verified Twitter account of Priyadarshi Telang, an “independent researcher and human rights advocate”. This account too had shared photos from the aforementioned event on October 15, calling it the "Dhamma Chakra Pravartan Din Celebration."
#àäçàä®àåàä®àäàåàä°àä¾àäàääàä¿ àäàä¿àä°àä¾àäïàå àä¹àåàä#DhammaChakraPravartanDin Celebrations at Pimpri, Pune pic.twitter.com/GO1o1telkR — Adv Priyadarshi Telang (@priyadarshi07) October 15, 2022
According to a News18 report, Dhammachakra Pravartan Din marks the anniversary of BR Ambedkar and lakhs of his followers embracing Buddhism in 1956. Subsequently, we found photos of this event on the Twitter account of Prabuddh Bharat, a media house founded by Dr BR Ambedkar in 1956.
àääàå àäàäàä¾ àä¸àåàä°àåàäïàä¾àäªàä°àå, àä°àä¾àä¹àä¿àä²àå àäàåàä àå àäèàä¿àä¶àä¾ !
àäàäµàäâàå àäÆàä®àåàä¹àä¾ àäàä³àå, àä¹àå àääàåàäàå àäÆàä¹àå àäæàä¿àä¶àä¾ !!
66àäµàåàäïàä¾ àäçàä®àåàä®àäàäàåàä° àäªàåàä°àäµàä°àåàääàäè àäæàä¿àäèàä¾àäèàä¿àä®àä¿àääàåàää àäàä¾àä°àääàåàäï àä¬àåàäæàåàäç àä®àä¹àä¾àä¸àäàä¾ àäÆàäïàåàäàä¿àää àäàäµàåàäï àäçàä®àåàä® àä®àåàä³àä¾àäµàä¾, àäÆàä àäªàä¿àäàäªàä°àå àäàä¿àäàäàäµàäáàä®àäçàåàäïàå àä²àä¾àäàåàäàäàåàäïàä¾ àäàäèàä¸àä®àåàäæàä¾àäïàä¾àäàåàäïàä¾ àäàäªàä¸àåàäåàä¿àää àä¸àäàäªàäèàåàäè àäàä¾àä²àä¾.
àä²àä¾àäàåàäàå àäàäèàääàä¾, àääàä¿àäàä¾ àäàäàä àäèàåàääàä¾ !@Prksh_Ambedkar pic.twitter.com/tGV4TIuDbl — Prabuddh Bharat (@PrabuddhBharat2) October 15, 2022
When we compared the Prabuddh Bharat photos with the viral ones, it became clear that the latter were cropped out from the former.
We also found a news report, quoting Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of BR Ambedkar, who was one of the key speakers at the event. Per this report, during the event, Ambedkar criticised RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who had recently batted for the abolition of the caste system. However, we did not find any mention of religious conversions in this report.
We then reached out to Sameer Shaikh, India Today's stringer from Pune who was present at the event. He confirmed to us that there was no mass conversion there. He added that Ambedkar's speech was more political, and focused less on social issues.
Therefore, it is safe to conclude that a socio-religious gathering in Pune was falsely shared as a mass conversion in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
(With inputs from Sameer S Shaikh, Pune)
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