New Delhi: An image of a group of people burning the BJP flag has been widely circulated on social media platforms with the claim that it is being done by “Brahmins”.
The image has also been shared by self-styled spiritual guru Acharya Pramod. It has over 3,000 retweets and more than 16,000 likes.
ब्राह्मणों ने जलाया “भाजपा”
का झंडा…………जय जय परशुराम. pic.twitter.com/rOJ1wpr3vY— Acharya Pramod (@AcharyaPramodk) July 15, 2020
“Brahmins burnt BJP flag, jai ho parashuram bhagwan…There is a lot of fighting ahead, wake up Brahmin, boycott BJP (sic),” read another tweet by a Twitter user who goes by the name Nagendra Shukla.
ब्राह्मणों ने जलाया भाजपा का झंडा
जय हो परशुराम भगवान
अभी तो ये अंगड़ाई है
आगे बहुत लड़ाई है
जागो ब्राह्मण जागो भाजपा का करो वहिष्कार @RahulGandhi @priyankagandhi @ppbajpai @anugrahNsingh @rssurjewala @kcvenugopalmp @INCIndia @LambaAlka @AjayLalluINC pic.twitter.com/pBfyVaRBNe— Nagendra Shukla (@NagendraShukl17) July 15, 2020
Yet another user of the micro-blogging site, Kailash Nath, tweeted saying: “Brahmins burnt BJP’s flag, hail such parshurami Brahmins.”
ब्राह्मणों ने जलाया भाजपा
का झंडा ऐसे परशुरामी ब्राह्मणों की जय हो @yadavakhilesh @NareshUttamSP @KnyadavRjd pic.twitter.com/dptZHRlT7z— Kailash Nath (@kailashnathsp) July 15, 2020
“Fall has started, angry Brahmins burn ‘BJP’ flag…jai jai jai parshuram,” Ramsudhar Mishra, another user, wrote on Twitter.
पतन शुरू
आक्रोशित ब्राह्मणों ने जलाया “भाजपा” का झंडा…
जै जै जै जै जै परशुराम pic.twitter.com/dvgfwENjIv— Ramsudhar Mishra (@RamsudharMishra) July 15, 2020
On Facebook, the picture with the caption “Brahmins burnt the flag of BJP…jai jai parshuram“, was posted by one Sagar Sharma. It has been shared by over 300 users.
Another Facebook user, Savita Nishad, has also shared the image.
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Fact check
The image going viral online is from November 2018, during the assembly elections at Kotputli in Jaipur. It was first used in Bhaskar, a daily in Jaipur. A local BJP office with the poster of a leader can be seen in the background of the viral image.
“On Monday, when Mukesh Goyal’s name came up in the Kotputli seat in the fifth list of BJP, Hansraj Patel filed his nomination as a rebel candidate. Late evening, Patel supporters near the main square burnt the effigies of UP BJP’s organisation general secretary and Kotputli resident Sunil Bansal and Union minister and MP Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore,” the report had stated.
It was however taken down later.
This image had gone viral in May 2019 too, with Facebook users claiming it to be from Siwan district of Bihar. Fact checking website Vishwas News had then done an investigation into the image.
Last month too, the same image was circulated on social media sites with the caption: “After the digital rally of the Hon’ble Home Minister Amit Shah in Bihar, the people of Bihar protested against the BJP.”
बिहार में माननीय गृहमंत्री अमित शाह जी की डिजिटल रैली के बाद बिहार की जनता के द्वारा बीजेपी का विरोध करते हुए। @Alexshaan05 @sujitsingh__ @DrTanweerHassan @007AliSohrab @tarunpant1993 @Rofl_RavishLIVE @RoflNana_ pic.twitter.com/tBn6jWmYf3
— Saif __ سیف اعظمی (@Saif_Jamian) June 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/Sidhujaihind/status/1271476700933570560
In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer
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