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| - Fact Check: Students dancing in burqas in viral video are not Hindu, incident falsely communalised
A video of four students, purportedly from Mangaluru's St Joseph's Engineering College, wearing burqas and dancing to a Bollywood song is making the rounds on social media, with the claim that these students were Hindu and were mocking Muslims.
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India Today Fact Check
The students seen dancing in burqas in the viral video were Muslim, not Hindu. This was confirmed by the college’s In-Charge Principal.
A video of four students, purportedly from Mangaluru's St Joseph’s Engineering College, wearing burqas and dancing to the Bollywood song “Fevicol Se”, has been shared by many on social media. Reportedly, following this, the college authorities suspended them.
Some who shared the video claimed that these students were Hindu and they were trying to mock Muslims when they did this. The archived version of such a post can be seen here.
People tweeted that "Strict action should be taken against St. Joseph engineering college, Mangalore, Karnataka for such an event organised for mocking Muslims.” The archived version of such a post can be seen here.
AFWA's investigation, however, found that the students seen dancing in the viral video were Muslim, and not Hindu.
AFWA Probe
A keyword search on Twitter led us to an account that claimed to be the official handle for St Joseph Engineering College in Mangaluru. On December 8, 2022, a thread of tweets from this account claimed that the students seen in that viral video were Muslim and that strict action had been taken against them.
Subsequently, AFWA contacted Sagay Raj, India Today's Mangaluru correspondent, who also confirmed that the students were Muslim. He also provided us with a press note from Mangaluru's St Joseph Engineering College after the controversy dated December 8.
The note signed by Dr Sudheer M, the college’s In-Charge Principal said, "The video clip being circulated on social media has captured a part of the dance by students of the Muslim community itself who barged on stage during the informal part of the students' association inaugural. It was not part of the approved program and the students involved have been suspended pending an enquiry. The college does not support or condone any activities that could harm the harmony between communities and everyone on campus knows that strict guidelines are in place in this regard."
Dr Sudheer M also told India Today, "We came to know about that video which was gone viral. It was a part of a dance program. Actually, students wanted to present a ghost. During that presentation, it was a few seconds and there was not one dance, there was a sequence of dances students were performing, frequently they were changing their dress and, in that process, this has come. Students wanted to present a horror dance. That was not at all the intention of hurting any of the community. Students have already apologised for this and given it in writing also. I also heard that the students themselves regretted and apologised for that particular act."
On December 9, news outlets like ANI, Hindustan Times, and Zee News also reported the students were Muslims.
Thus, it is clear that the students seen dancing in burqas in the viral video were Muslim and not Hindu.
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