Fact Check: Video of police hitting Buddhist monk is not related to Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan stir
A group of Buddhist monks, leaders, and followers, have reportedly entered the 14th day of an indefinite hunger strike
Claim :
Buddhist monk being chased and kicked by Bihar police during the Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan protests in BodhgayaFact :
The video is an old one from Nepal, there is no relation to Bihar or Mahabodhi Mukti Andolan
A group of Buddhist monks, leaders, and followers, have reportedly entered the 14th day of an indefinite hunger strike at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, in Central India demanding full administrative control of the site, considered the most sacred by Buddhists. The protest challenges the existing management structure established under the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949, which grants a majority in the temple’s management to Hindu committee members despite its centrality to Buddhism. Hundreds of Buddhist monks and followers joined this movement which started on February 12. Their demand was that the management of Mahabodhi Mahavihara temple should be completely handed over to the Buddhist community and the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 should be repealed. However, after this movement which lasted for 15 days, at 1:00 in the night, Bihar Police forcibly picked up the monks sitting on hunger strike and admitted them to a medical college.
Amidst this, a video of a Buddhist monk being chased with batons is shared on social media with claims that the police are assaulting the monks who are protesting peacefully. Several users shared this video with the claims in Hindi, mainly using hashtag ‘Mahabodhi mukti andolan’. The claim goes ‘बौद्ध गया स्थित महा बोधि बुद्द विहार मुक्ति आंदोलन मे शांति पूर्वक आंदोलन कर रहे बौद्ध भिक्षुओं को @NitishKumar और तानाशाही @narendramodi सरकार ने बर्बरतापूर्ण व्यवहार कर भगाया बौद्ध भिक्षुओं को लात मारी गई बहुत ही शर्मनाक है। महा बोधि बुद्द विहार को मुक्त करो @BhimArmyChief’. When translated: ‘In the Mahabodhi Buddha Vihar Mukti Andolan in Bodh Gaya, the Buddhist monks who were peacefully protesting were brutally chased away by @NitishKumar and dictatorial @narendramodi gove
Some other X users shared the same video with caption “#महाबोधि_मुक्ति_आंदोलन में शांतिपूर्ण ढंग से बौद्ध भिक्षु प्रदर्शन कर रहे हैं लेकिन प्रशासन का रवैया निंदनीय है I ये किसी मंदिर के पुजारी नहीं है जिन्हें पुलिस लात मार रहीं है ये तथागत बुद्ध के अनुयायि है अगर ये चुप है तो बुद्ध है। और अगर युद्ध की जरूरत पड़ी तो ये सम्राट अशोक है।‘
When translated, it claims: ‘#महाबोधि_मुक्ति_आंदोलन
Here is the archive link of the claim.
Fact Check:
The claim is False. The video is not from India.
When we observed the viral video, we found a watermark of Nepal khabar on the top right corner of the video. When we searched for the videos on the social media platforms of Nepal Khabar which is a digital news media platform that belongs to Nepal, we found that the longer version of the viral video was published on their Facebook page on April 7, 2024, with the caption “काठमाडौँको भद्रकालीमा शनिबार प्रहरीले बौद्ध भिक्षुमाथि प्रहार गरेपछि...काठमाडौँको भद्रकालीमा शनिबार प्रहरीले बौद्ध भिक्षुमाथि प्रहार गरेपछि...” when translated, it states “After police attacked a Buddhist monk in Bhadrakali, Kathmandu on Saturday”
Taking a cue from this, we searched using the keywords ‘Nepal police beating monks + Bhadrakali Kathmandu’, and we found a few posts confirming that this incident occurred in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2024. A video published by VNG networks also shares the visuals of police beating the Buddist monk and also people protesting against this police action with the title “Nepal police criticized for mishandling a monk in a demonstration at Bhadrakali, Kathmandu, Nepal”
According to an article published in myrepublica.com that shares the snapshot from the viral video, The Nepal Police Headquarters has announced that disciplinary action has been taken against the police personnel who beat a monk with a stick for walking in Bhadrakali in Kathmandu. There was a clash between the police and the protesters during the demonstration by the National Revolution Campaign led by Rajendra Mahato. Meanwhile, the police abused two monks who were walking along the road.
A video capturing the incident, where a police officer strikes a monk with a stick and kicks him from behind, has circulated widely on social media platforms, drawing widespread criticism directed at Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane and the Nepal Police.
Therefore, the viral video does not show recent incident that took place in Bihar, India. This is from Nepal showing an incident that occurred in April 2024. The claim is False.
