Fact Check: Viral image of a float showing Muslim man praying in 2011 R-Day Parade was not from UP but Bihar

According to a statement from the defence ministry, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Dadar Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have been selected for presenting their tableaux on the Kartavya Path on January 26.

“The selected tableaux would showcase India's diverse strengths and its constantly evolving cultural inclusiveness marching into glorious future, showcasing Swarnim Bharat - Virasat aur Vikas to the world audience," the ministry added.

Meanwhile, a viral post on X shows two different floats – one depicting a Muslim man praying and another featuring a rishi and a temple. It is being widely shared with the claim that during the Samajwadi Party government, a float showcasing the radical Deoband Muslims, represented Uttar Pradesh in the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi. The post further claims that the second float, featuring a sage and a temple, was an official tableau during the Yogi Adityanath government and people desire this kind of change in official policy to continue.

Claim: समाजवादी राज में कट्टरपंथी हनफ़ी देवबंद को उत्तर प्रदेश की झांकी के तौर पर राजपथ पर पेश किया जाता था

वह देवबंद जो सऊदी अरब की हनफी विचारधारा का प्रतिनिधित्व करता है उस हनफ़ी विचारधारा को अखिलेश यादव उत्तर प्रदेश की विचारधारा बताकर राजपथ पर पेश करते रहे

वहीं योगीराज में राजपथ पर गणतंत्र दिवस में उत्तर प्रदेश की क्या झांकी होती थी वह देखिये

बस हम यही चाहते हैं कि यही बदलाव कायम रहे अब फिर से यूपी में इस्लाम वादी लोग सत्ता में ना आने पाए

You can find the viral post link here and archive link here.

Here’s the screenshot of the claim made in the viral post.

Fact Check:

During the investigation, the Telugupost fact check team found the claim made in the X post to be misleading.

When we searched the viral image using the Google Reverse Image Search tool, we came across a few results and one of them was Shutterstock image (from stock photography company) as well as on Slideshare.

Under the image description, we found that this float represented Bihar during the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi on January 26, 2011. Taking clue from this, we ran a Google Search with relevant keywords and found a photo gallery on The Times of India (note that the images are broken). The caption was: “A tableau from Bihar state depicts a Muslim man praying as the tune of Amir Khusro's Sufi verse 'Chhap tilak sab chhini re' played in the background in the 62nd Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in New Delhi on January 26, 2011. The float shows the shrine of 17th century saint Makhdoom Shah Daulat at Maner.”

The Sufi saint is also known as Sharfuddin Yahya Maneri. On the selection of a Sufi saint tableau, the then Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar told Times of India that, “Hazrat Maneri symbolizes the spirit of religious tolerance, peace and education. He is the real representative of what has been the ethos of Bihar through centuries. Our tableau celebrated the message of peace and accommodation that sufis like Hazrat Maneri and others have spread."

During the search, we also found a Press Information Bureau (PIB) list of the states participating in the parade along with the themes of their tableau. We didn’t find Uttar Pradesh in the 2011 list of tableaux.

As we continued our investigation, we found ABP news article which stated that “Uttar Pradesh’s tableau bags first prize” during Republic Day 2021.

In the light of media reports and our investigation, we conclude the claim that the Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government sent a tableau depicting a “Muslim man praying” for the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi is false as the UP government did not take part in the parade. The tableau shown in the viral image represented Bihar state in 2011.