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| - Fact Check: Huge crowd at jawan's funeral in Gujarat shared as Sidhu Moose Wala's last rites
An old video of a huge crowd gathered at a jawan's funeral has been shared recently as Sidhu Moose Wala's last rites. The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the video to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
This video from October 2021 shows the funeral of Harish Parmar, a jawan from Gujarat who was killed during a clash with insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir.
The assassination of popular Punjabi singer and Congress politician Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29 was met with grief from fans across India. His funeral was attended by thousands and was covered by the national media. However, amid this, many on social media shared a video of a mass gathering, claiming it was from Moose Wala’s funeral. One such post can be seen below.
A sea of people could be seen in the video surrounding an open shed where the pyre was likely placed. This supposed scene from Moose Wala’s funeral contained overlaid text that mentioned the 28-year-old singer’s name. More such posts can be seen here and here.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the video was not from Moose Wala’s funeral at all. It was from the 2021 funeral of a jawan from Gujarat who was killed during a clash with insurgents in Jammu and Kashmir.
READ MORE: Fact Check: Far from his last, this Sidhu Moose Wala interview with Sonam Bajwa is more than a year old
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of the keyframes of the video led us to multiple similar YouTube videos from October 2021. These videos claimed to capture the funeral of a soldier called Harish Parmar in Gujarat’s Kheda district. Just like the viral video, people in these videos could be seen holding the Indian national flag.
Other longer videos also showed the funeral procession.
Per news reports, Harish Parmar, 25, died in an insurgent attack in the Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir in October 2021. He was cremated at the Vanzaria village in the Kapadvanj Taluk of the Kheda district in Gujarat. Around 50,000 people had gathered to pay their last respects to the young soldier.
We reached out to the India Today bureau in Kheda, where our reporter Hetali Shah confirmed that the video was indeed from the funeral of Harish Parmar.
With the help of locals in Vanzaria, we were also able to gather photographs and videos of the funeral ground seen in the viral video. Locals also confirmed to India Today that no other recent funeral had witnessed a gathering of thousands.
We noticed multiple similarities between the images and videos from Vanzaria and the viral video. For instance, the terrain of the funeral ground, the open shed where funerals are held, as well as a bushy tree near the structure looked similar.
It is noteworthy that this video has been in circulation on the internet since October 2021, shared as scenes from funerals of other soldiers.
Thousands attended Moose Wala's funeral
Thousands of people indeed attended the last rites of Moose Wala at Punjab’s Mansa village. A video from his funeral tweeted by ANI can be seen below.
#WATCH | A huge crowd joins the funeral procession of singer Sidhu Moose Wala in Punjab's Mansa.
The last rites of the singer will be performed today. pic.twitter.com/LHkvjrUyVz — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2022
Thus, we conclude that the video in question was from the funeral of a jawan in Gujarat and is not related to Sidhu Moose Wala in any way.
(With inputs from Hetali Shah and Yash Mittal)
READ MORE: Fact Check: Yes, Bhagwant Mann took a photo with a Goldy Brar, but this wasn’t Sidhu Moose Wala’s alleged murderer
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