By: Umme Kulsum
June 7 2024
Sudarshan News Marathi falsely claims Pakistani flag waved in Maharashtra’s Shrirampur
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Screenshot of a post claiming that the Pakistani flag was raised during the victory celebrations of Maha Vikas Aghadi in Maharashtra. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
Nitin Deshmukh, police inspector at Shrirampur police station, confirmed to us that no Pakistani flags were raised during the celebrations.
Claim ID 1dc4cb04
What’s the claim?
Right-wing news outlet Sudarshan News Marathi shared a video on its X (formerly Twitter) account showing a group of people waving a green flag with a claim that a Pakistani flag was raised to celebrate the victory of Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) in the Ward No. 2 at Weston Chowk area of Shrirampur in the western state of Maharashtra.
The post gathered over 2,20,000 views at the time of writing this story. Archived versions of other such posts on X can be found here and here. The video has also gained traction on Facebook and YouTube with the same narrative. Archived versions of the posts can be seen here and here.
The MVA is a state-level political coalition comprising the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Sharad Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Indian National Congress (INC), which contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as an alliance.
Screenshot of claims made online. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the green-colored flag in the viral clip is not a Pakistani flag but an Islamic flag.
What we found
Upon closely examining the video, Logically Facts found that the green flag in the viral clip is not the national flag of Pakistan. The Pakistani flag features a crescent moon and star along with a white stripe on the left side, whereas the flag in the viral clip is entirely green with only a crescent moon and a star. This comparison clearly indicates that it is not a Pakistani flag.
At the 0:01 timestamp in the viral clip, we can also see a man waving a saffron flag.
Comparison of the national flag of Pakistan and the flag seen in the viral clip. (Source: X/Unsplash)
We geolocated the video and concluded that this video was shot near Weston Tower in Shrirampur, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra.
Screenshot showing the visuals in the viral clip and geolocation. (Source: X/Google Maps)
Speaking to Logically Facts, Nitin Deshmukh, police inspector at Shrirampur police station, said, "The flag raised is not the Pakistan flag. It is their religious flag. There was no Pakistani flag raised in Shrirampur." He also clarified that the video is from June 4, when MVA supporters organized a celebration in Shrirampur where saffron and green flags were raised.
A local resident of Shrirampur, Taufiq Sheikh, told us, "This is our flag which we wave during Muharram/Eid milad un nabi, etc. This is a video of June 4 when people were celebrating the victory of Bhausaheb Rajaram of Shiv Sena (UBT) at Western Chowk of Shrirampur, also called Maulana Azad Chowk. Hindu brothers were also present there." It should be noted that Ward No.2 in Shrirampur is located in Shrirampur North, which falls under Shirdi constituency. Shrirampur South falls under the Ahmednagar constituency.
We were also able to contact one of the people seen in the video, Saleem, who said that the celebration involved people from both Hindu and Muslim communities. When they were waving the green flag, “Marathi brothers waved saffron-colored flags,” he added. Logically Facts has previously fact-checked several claims made by the media outlet Sudarshan News. The fact check can be read here and here.
The verdict
The video does not show a Pakistani flag raised in Maharashtra's Shrirampur. The police have confirmed to Logically Facts that the green flag is an Islamic one, and no Pakistani flags were waved in Shrirampur.