On January 22, 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Against this backdrop, a video has surfaced on social media, claiming that the inaugural celebration of the Ram temple took place in Mecca.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with a caption:” ఒరిజినల్ ముస్లిం లు ఉండే మక్కా లో బాల రాముని ప్రతిష్ఠా సంబరాలు ??? (English Translation: In Mecca where there are original Muslims, Balarama’s prestige celebrations ???).”
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found it to be false.
Conducting a keyword search on “Ram temple inauguration celebration at Mecca,” the NM team failed to uncover any relevant information. Running a reverse image search of the viral video keyframes, we spotted a YouTube short video, dated January 17, 2024, with similar visuals. And the song playing in the viral video “Bharat Ka Baccha Baccha Jai Shree Ram Bole Ga by Pooja Golhani” is different from the YouTube clip.
Through a more extensive keyword search, our team identified similar videos on YouTube and Instagram featuring Indonesian pilgrims in saffron-coloured hijabs and white hijabs with saffron scarfs during their visit to Mecca. Multiple visuals on the Instagram account of PT. An Namiroh Travelindo, an Indonesian travel agency, closely match with the contents of the viral video.
Below is a comparison of the viral video and the Indonesian pilgrimage video. We can observe the women in saffron-coloured hijabs — some in white hijabs with saffron scarves — and all Indonesian pilgrims carrying identical saffron and black sling bags along with similar identity cards.
Hence, we can conclusively say that the video of the Indonesian pilgrims during their visit to Mecca has gone viral falsely claiming it as the Ayodhya Ram temple inaugural celebration in Mecca.
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