This video does not show 'Halla Bol' protest march against Shinde's Maharashtra govt
A video of a massive crowd marching on a flyover is being shared with the claim that it shows the MVA’s protest march against the Eknath Shinde-led state government.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 20 Dec 2022 1:32 PM GMT
Hyderabad: On 17 December, Maharashtra's Opposition alliance, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), took out a 'Halla Bol' march against the Eknath Shinde-led state government. The protest was over several issues, including the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute, projects from the state being moved elsewhere, and the alleged insult of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, social reformers Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, and Savitribai Phule by Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.
Against this backdrop, a video of a massive crowd marching on a flyover is being shared with the claim that it shows the MVA's protest march against the Eknath Shinde-led state government.
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha Member Sanjay Raut shared the video in response to Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis calling the MVA's protest a "nano" morcha for gaining political capital.
Click here to see the post.
A Facebook user also shared the video on 18 December suggesting that it shows the MVA's protest march.
Fact Check
NewsMeter performed a reverse image search of the keyframes of the video and found a video with a similar visual tweeted by The Times of India on 9 August 2019. It had used the hashtag #MarathaKrantiMorcha. It also said that the community members chanted slogans while passing by the JJ flyover.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search about the Maratha Kranti Morcha and found images with similar visuals in a report published by the Financial Express on 9 August 2017. According to the report, a protest march was taken out in Mumbai by the Maratha community demanding reservation in jobs and education for the Maratha community, among other demands.
We also found an image identical to a keyframe of the viral video published by AP Images on 9 August 2017. The description read, "Members of Maratha Kranti Morcha or Maratha Revolutionary Front take out a silent march in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. Tens of thousands of people waving saffron flags are marching through Mumbai demanding quotas in government jobs and education for the Maratha community in western India."
It is evident that the viral video dates back to 2017 and does not show Maha Vikas Aghadi's protest march taken out on 17 December 2022. Hence, we conclude that the claim is misleading.
