Fact Check: People in procession on Tank Bund are not carrying Pakistani flags
Hyderabad is gearing up for the upcoming Parliament elections, as it is one among the significant seats in Telangana. It has been All India Majlis-e-ittehad-ul-Muslimeen’s (AIMIM) stronghold for the last three decades.
Tank Bund
Hyderabad is gearing up for the upcoming Parliament elections, as it is one among the significant seats in Telangana. It has been All India Majlis-e-ittehad-ul-Muslimeen’
Meanwhile, a video of a group of people taking a procession on bikes, holding green-coloured flags is going viral on social media with the claim that they are carrying Pakistani flags and raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.
The video is viral on all social media platforms, including Whatsapp, with a claim in Telugu that goes “హైదరాబాద్: 'పాకిస్తాన్ జిందాబాద్' అంటూ హైదరాబాద్ ట్యాంక్ బండ్ పైన పాకిస్తాన్ జెండాలతో కేరింతలు.. ఇదెక్కడో పశ్చిమ బెంగాల్, కేరళ లోనో కాదు.. తెలంగాణ రాష్ట్ర రాజధాని హైదరాబాద్ లోని సచివాలయానికి కూత వేటు దూరంలో ట్యాంక్ బండ్పై ట్రాఫిక్ కు అంతరాయం కలిగిస్తూ విచ్చల విడిగా పాకిస్తానీ జెండాలతో ఊరేగిన పాత బస్తీ మతోన్మాదులు..”
When translated, it claims: “Hyderabad: 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans are raised on the Tank Bund, Hyderabad, with Pakistani flags. This is not in West Bengal or Kerala. Not far from the Secretariat in Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana state, old Basti fanatics are marching on the Tank Bund with Pakistani flags, disrupting the traffic."
Fact check:
The claim is False. The video is not recent and the people are not carrying Pakistani flags. They are Islamic flags, usually seen during Milad-un-nabi procession. When observed, the flags seen in the video look very different from the Pakistani flag. Here are the screenshots.
When we searched for Milad-un-nabi flags online, we could find a few e-commerce sites selling similar flags as seen in the viral video. Upon comparing the flags in the viral video with the Pakistan flag, we can confirm that they are completely different. Here is the comparison.
Telugupost also found a few images of the flags sold in India during Milad-un-nabi, which are very similar to the flags seen in the viral video.
Hyderabad city police also alerted the citizens that the viral video is an old one from Milad-un-nabi festival last year. Police took to their X (Twitter) account stating: “It is an old video from last year from the Milad Un Nabi Festival, already a case was registered, we request not to spread fake information if not will initiate action.”
This was shared by Siasat Daily also.
Hence, the viral video is an old one and the flags seen in the video are not Pakistani flags. They are Islamic flags generally seen during Milad-un-nabi festival procession. The claim is False.