Old Video From A Protest Against A Judge In Karnataka Shared As Protest Against Amit Shah.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks during a debate in the Rajya Sabha sparked controversy when he said that “invoking Ambedkar’s name has become a fashion among the opposition parties”. Social media users are also criticizing Amit Shah for his remarks. Against this backdrop, a video of a rally went viral on social media claiming it to be a protest against Amit Shah. 

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the viral video is old and not related to the recent remark by Amit Shah. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a tweet from AICCTU Karnataka on 19 February 2022. The image uploaded in the tweet was similar to the screenshots from the viral video. The tweet read, “AICCTU participated in full force in the rally called by the Samvidhana Samrakshana Maha Okkutta -Karnataka demanding the display of portraits of Babasaheb Ambedkar in every court hall, amongst other demands”

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Taking this clue, we conducted a relevant keyword search. This led us to a video report on the YouTube channel “asianetnews” on 20 February 2022. From the timestamp 0:16, a clip similar to the viral video can be seen, shot from a slightly different angle.

The description of the video reads, “Massive protest in Karnataka against the judge who ordered the removal of Ambedkar’s photo from Republic Day flag hoisting stage Ambedkar photo row: Massive protest by Dalit groups in Bengaluru against the judge”.

Moving forward, we found a report published on 20 February 2022 that contained an image similar to the screenshots from the viral video. According to the report, “A huge protest march was held in Bengaluru on Saturday, February 19, demanding that a Karnataka district judge who objected to placing BR Ambedkar’s portrait next to Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait on Republic Day in Raichur be suspended. The massive rally which clogged the Anand Rao circle flyover, prompted Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to meet the protesters in Freedom Park. Accepting their memorandum, Bommai promised to convey their demands to the relevant people. CM Bommai meeting protesters at the park was unusual in itself. 

Visuals of the protest showed a sea of people holding up the blue flags of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha as well as that some flags of the SDPI. According to reports, the rally saw sloganeering as well, with people shouting ‘We want justice’ and that the ‘Government does not belong to anyone’s father’. Scores of people were also seen in blue t-shirts, holding up placards with BR Ambedkar’s photo on it. Photographs also showed a sea of people taking up the Maurya Circle flyover as they looked to march towards Vidhana Soudha…”

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Another video report can be seen below.

A comparison between the screenshots from the viral video and the YouTube video can be seen below. 

Similar reports can be seen here and here.

This makes it clear that the viral video is old and not related to the recent remark by Amit Shah.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video is not related to the recent remarks by Amit Shah. The video shows a rally against a judge in Raichur, Karnataka, for allegedly insulting Dr BR Ambedkar in a Republic Day Program.