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  • 2022-12-20 (xsd:date)
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  • Images show Hindu religious gathering, not Indian opposition leader's roadshow (en)
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  • Two pictures of a huge crowd have been repeatedly shared in Facebook and Twitter posts that falsely claim they show Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's march in Rajasthan state. In reality, the images were shot in Uttar Pradesh state and show a gathering of devotees of a Hindu spiritual guru . The photos were shared here on Twitter on December 7, 2022. The Hindi-language caption to the post translates as: A huge crowd gathered to welcome the future of India Mr. Rahul Gandhi at Chanwali in Jhalawar district of Rajasthan. #BharatJodoYatra. A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken on December 13, 2022 Bharat Jodo Yatra -- or Unite India March -- is a nationwide campaign started in September 2022 by the opposition Congress party under the leadership of former party president Rahul Gandhi . Gandhi has said the aim of the pan-India march is to highlight rampant unemployment, soaring inflation and growing polarisation between majority Hindus and religious minorities like Muslims. The images have circulated with the false claim as the Unite India March reached India's largest state Rajasthan in December. The images were also shared alongside a similar claim here and here on Twitter; and here and here on Facebook. The images, however, show devotees gathered for an event for a Hindu spiritual guru in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh. Religious gathering A reverse search on Google found the images uploaded here and here on Facebook on December 3, 2022. The Hindi-language post translates to English as: Jai Gurudev. 3rd December, 2022. Jai Gurudev Mathura Ashram. Divinely Guru religious feast Bhandara attracted a humongous gathering of people. Jai Gurudev was a Hindu spiritual guru who according to local reports here and here has millions of devotees. He reportedly died in 2012. Mathura is a district in Uttar Pradesh, and ashram refers to the place where Jai Gurudev used to preach. Below are screenshot comparisons of the images shared in the false posts (left) and the images shared with the correct caption on Facebook (right): The same gathering of devotees was also streamed live on the YouTube channel Jai Gurudev Mathura Ashram here . Below is a screenshot comparison of one of the images shared with the false claim (left) and a frame from the YouTube live video (right) with the corresponding features highlighted: The location of the gathering shown in the YouTube video corresponds to this Google street view near a Hindu temple in Mathura. Below is a screenshot of the video's 39-minute 38-second mark (left) and the Google Maps Street View in Mathura (right) with similar features highlighted : Responding to the false posts, Baburam Yadav, general secretary of Jai Gurudev Ashram Mathura, told AFP: This picture is being shared with the false claim on social media. It actually shows a grand programme of Jai Gurudev Ashram organised on December 3. (en)
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