Claim
Recent video of lathi charge on Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati at the Mahakumbh.
Fact
2015 video of an incident under the Akhilesh Yadav govt in Uttar Pradesh.
A video purportedly showing police crackdown on Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati has gone viral on social media platforms, with users claiming it to show a recent lathi charge on the Shankaracharya at the ongoing Mahakumbh.
The 54-second-long-footage is being widely circulated online with users condemning the alleged police action on the religious leader. A few others also claimed that the Shankaracharya was ousted from Kumbh Mela while also being lathi-charged by the police under CM Yogi Adityanath’s rule.
Such posts can be seen here, here and here.
Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotish Peeth, was recently in news for calling out the Uttar Pradesh government following the tragic stampede in Mahakumbh. He reportedly said that the government had no moral right to remain in power after the stampede.
Fact Check/Verification
A Google Lens search on the keyframes of the viral video led us to a Facebook post by 1008.Guru (Swaamishreeh Avimukteshwaraanandah Saraswatee), dated September 28, 2015. It featured the same video showing lathi charge on Shankaracharya.
Subsequent investigation led us to an Aaj Tak report from September 2015, carrying similar visuals of police crackdown. “Uttar Pradesh Police resorted to lathi-charge night to disperse the devotees who were trying to immerse Lord Ganesha idol in the river Ganga,” it stated.
We then looked up keywords “Swami Avimukteshwaranand,” “lathi charge” and “Varanasi” on Google which yielded multiple reports from September 2015 detailing the incident.
Also Read: Viral Video Of Samay Raina Cracking A ‘Rekha’ Joke To Amitabh Bachchan On KBC Is A Deepfake
The members of ‘Sri Kashi Maratha Ganesha Utsav Samiti’ and other religious organisations were staging a sit-in protest in Varanasi, after they were prevented from immersing Lord Ganesha idols into the Ganga in view of the Allahabad High Court’s decision.
It was, however, called off after police crackdown, which injured multiple protesters including Swami Avimukteshwaranand. “There are so many other pollutants being released in the Ganga.Why is that not stopped? A worshiped idol is akin to a live individual and why are we only being asked to change our rituals?” Swami Avimukteshwaranand reportedly said.
Hence, the video relates to an incident from 2015 under SP leader Akhilesh Yadav’s government in Uttar Pradesh. Multiple outlets such as this, this and this reported on the same.
Moreover, we did not find any recent reports of any such police action on Shankaracharya.
Also Read: Guruvayur Temple Denies Claims of Gifting Baby Elephant To Tiruchendur Murugan Temple
Conclusion
Hence, an old video has been falsely shared to show a recent incident on lathi charge on Shankaracharya Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati.
Result: False
Sources
Facebook Post By @1008.guru, Dated September 28, 2015
YouTube Video By Aaj Tak, Dated September 23, 2015
If you would like us to fact-check a claim, give feedback or lodge a complaint, WhatsApp us at 9999499044 or email us at checkthis@newschecker.in. You can also visit the Contact Us page and fill out the form. Follow our WhatsApp channel for more updates.
