A video claiming that a chicken shop is running under a temple in Rahul Gandhi constituency in Wayanad, Kerala, has gone viral on social media. It shows a small shop under a temple-like structure, and a voiceover can be heard saying: “Friends, this is the Sita Ram temple, and beneath it lies a shop. It’s a chicken shop where chicken meat is sold. This is the temple square, and that building there is the Sita Ram temple. This is a chicken shop, and if you look up, you’ll see something written in Hindi.”
A text layer on the video further alleges that Rahul Gandhi inaugurated the shop as it reads: “Wake up Hindus, wake up, this is Sita Ram temple in Wayanad, Kerala, which has a chicken shop which has been inaugurated by Rahul Gandhi which is the parliamentary constituency of Rahul Gandhi.”
The Facebook post reads: “केरल के वायनाड में राहुल गांधी और प्रियंका वाड्राइन ने चार साल पहले हिंदुओं के बड़े मंदिर श्रीसीताराम मंदिर पर मुसलमानों का कब्जा रजिस्टर्ड करा दिया था 😡अब तो कांग्रेसी ब्राह्मण क्षत्रिय बहुत खुश हो चुके होंगे 😭😭सब लोग भाजपा को ही वोट दें 🙏@INCIndia @SupriyaShrinate”.
The above post can be seen here. (Archive)
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the posts, and found it to be false.
Running the video keyframes through Reverse Image Search, the NM team identified a YouTube vlog in “Makhan Ram Jaipal Vlogs” on August 25, 2023, showing a temple with features that match the temple in the viral post.
The temple featured in the vlog is situated in Ahmedpur Sial, a town within Pakistan’s Punjab province’s Jhang district, where there is no Hindu population. At approximately the 1:15-minute mark, the vlogger showcases both the temple and the adjacent chicken shop. Upon reviewing the YouTube channel, it’s evident that numerous vlogs originating from Pakistan have been uploaded.
We also found the same video uploaded on the vlogger’s Instagram account on April 17. The post caption states that the Sita Ram Mandir is in Punjab, Pakistan.
After pinpointing the temple’s location on Google Maps, we discovered several photos of the temple. Through a comparison of these images, it is confirmed that this is the same temple, situated in Ahmedpur Sial of the Jhang district in Punjab, Pakistan, the temple is permanently closed.
Hence, we can conclude that a video depicting an abandoned temple in Pakistan’s Punjab province has been inaccurately portrayed as a chicken shop operating in a Hindu temple in Wayanad.
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