In November 2024, deadly clashes broke out in the Indian town of Sambhal in northern Uttar Pradesh state, following an investigation into whether a centuries-old mosque had been built on a Hindu temple. But images circulating online of police officers beating men wearing Muslim hats have nothing to do with the recent clashes. The clip was filmed in a district hundreds of miles away from Sambhal and matches videos published in 2019 news reports about protests against a controversial citizenship law.
“UP, Sambhal. Watch the police brutality in this video. Watch the video, the Muslims have no stones or weapons in their hands! They were just protesting but the police still attacked them,” said a Hindi-language Facebook post . published on November 24, 2024.
The message includes a video of police officers beating people, many of whom are seen clothed which resembles a kufi, or a brimless, short and round cap – with sticks before the crowd dispersed.
The fake video surfaced after violent protests broke out in Sambhal in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) over a court order to investigate a local mosque that Hindus said was built on the site of a Hindu temple (archived link).
Screenshot of the fake post, taken on November 24, 2024
Street fighting broke out in an attempt to deny a team of surveyors from the government’s Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) entry to the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal.
At least six people were killed and about 20 police officers were injured in the unrest, a local official said.
Indian media reported that the country’s highest court had stayed the order pending an appeal (archived link).
Activist groups have laid claim to several mosques that they say were built over Hindu temples. including the Babri Masjid mosque which was demolished in 1992.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand new Hindu temple at his site in the city of Ayodhya earlier this year.
The same video was shared with similar captions on X and Facebook.
But the footage first circulated in 2019 and matches videos published about protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) – a controversial legislation that paved the way for religious minorities to acquire Indian citizenship, but not if they are Muslim are (archived link).
Citizenship law protests
A reverse image search of keyframes on Google found a clip showing the same scene, shared to YouTube on December 31, 2019 (archived link).
“Indian Police Beaten (sic) Anti-Citizenship Act Protester,” part of the caption read.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the fake Facebook post (left) and the 2019 YouTube video (right):
Screenshot comparison of the snippet shared in the fake Facebook post (left) and on X in 2019 (right)
Images on Google Street View confirmed the video was filmed in the Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, over 510 kilometers (316 miles) from Sambhal (archived link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video (left) and its location on Google Street View, showing the same store (right):
Screenshot comparison of the video (left) and its location on Google Street View (right)
The clip emerged as deadly protests broke out across India against the citizenship law. Many of the deaths were reported in Uttar Pradesh, where police were accused of using disproportionate force (archived link).
Local channel ETV Bharat reported that protesters in Gorakhpur pelted stones at police, who responded by attacking the crowd to disperse them (archived link).
