Fact Check: Kedarnath Pilgrims assault falsely shared with communal spin

Hyderabad: A video of a scuffle at Kedarnath is making rounds on social media with a focus on a communal angle. Social media users have shared a video of a scuffle between a group of horses, mule vendors and pilgrims claiming that the horse service vendor, who was beating the pilgrims, was a Muslim man.

The caption to the viral video reads, “Shameful/Sad – Muslim terror in Kedarnath. Char Dham pilgrims were beaten up by Muslim horse and mule riders in the Kedarnath Ghopadav/Bhimbali area. Pilgrims were beaten with sticks, and they caused a lot of harm. This is the terror caused by these people. Even after witnessing this, the local police take no action against them. The authorities should address this issue.” The video of the assault has been widely shared on social media since June 13, 2023.

What is the video about?

Initially, a horse and mule operator were seen involved in a verbal argument with two people – a man and a woman. Later, the fight intensified with more persons getting involved in the scene and the devotees were also attacked with sticks. Later, the local police intervened and arrested five accused involved in the incident of assault have been identified and necessary legal action is being taken, a police official was quoted in media reports.

A question about the safety and security of the Kedarnath devotees was raised post the incident.

Fact Check

NewsMeter could not find any communal aspect to the incident.

A tweet by the Uttarakhand Police on the incident read, “The accused involved in the incident were arrested by registering a case at Kotwali Sonprayag by @RudraprayagPol against the horse and mule operators who assaulted the devotees, residents of Delhi, on the Shri Kedarnath Dham pedestrian route.”

Moreover, on the same thread, we found another tweet by the Uttarakhand Police naming the five accused arrested in the assault case.

According to the tweet, the accused are Ankit Singh, Santosh Kumar, Rohit Kumar, Jayakandi, Gautam and a minor. As per the names revealed by the Uttarakhand Police, all the accused are from the Hindu Community. Hence, it is clear that there is no communal angle behind the incidence.

Over the unrest and safety concerns, taking to Twitter Ashok Kumar IPS tweeted, “#UttarakhandPolice is committed to the safety and convenience of the devotees travelling to Char Dham. Any kind of indecent behavior with the devotees is not forgivable, and strict action will be taken against such anti-social elements. Charges were registered against the horse and mule operators who assaulted the devotees on the footpath of Shri Kedarnath Dham and they were arrested.”

Hence, the claim that there is a communal angle behind the incident at Kedarnath is baseless.