Fact Check: Video from Pakistan falsely shared as Wayanad temple taken over by Muslims with Rahul Gandhi’s help

Hyderabad: A video which shows a chicken shop reportedly inside a temple is doing rounds on social media with the claim that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is currently a Member of Parliament from Wayanad, and his sister Priyanka Gandhi have helped Muslims get possession of the temple.

A voice in the video said that the chicken shop is inside a Sita-Ram Mandir. “In Wayanad, Kerala, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra got possession of the massive Hindu temple Sri Sitaram Mandir and got it registered for Muslims four years ago. Now the Congress Brahmins and Kshatriyas must be pleased. Everybody should vote for the BJP only, (translated from Hindi)” wrote an X user who shared the video. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the video of a temple is from Pakistan, not Wayanad.

Upon a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found a report by Punjab Kesari of December 17, 2023, which carried the screengrabs of the video. As per the report, a historic Sita-Ram Hindu temple in Ahmedpur Sial, Pakistan, was desecrated and converted into a chicken shop. It also mentioned that the temple is of immense historical and cultural importance and was built a century ago.

We also found another video showing the visuals of the same alleged temple in a report by Republic World on December 18, 2023, titled ‘Pakistan’s video sparks outcry as historic Sita-Ram temple converted into Chicken shop.’ The channel mentioned that the temple is in Ahmedpur Sial, Pakistan. A man in the video says that the place has no Hindu population. He shows the ‘Om’ written on the building and the chicken shop operating there.

With these clues, we looked for the temple on Google Maps and found images with identical visuals. Here is a comparison of the temple from a screengrab of the viral video and the images from Google Maps showing the same architectural elements.

Speaking to NewsMeter, Suvarna Prasad, BJP media cell conveyor for Kerala denied the allegation of the temple being taken over. He said, "No such incident occurred in Wayanad. Seethadevi Lavakusha is the only renowned temple dedicated to Goddess Seetha in Wayanad, and it does not have an idol of Lord Ram. However, there were no reports of any altercation over the temple."

NewsMeter contacted C Vijesh, the executive officer of Seethadevi Lavakusha Temple in Pulpally, Wayanad, who also refuted the allegation of the temple being taken over.

Dismissing the viral claim as fake, he said, “This particular temple is solely dedicated to Seethadevi and Lavakusha. It is the only such template in South India. The viral claims are baseless. We don’t have any such communal disputes here.” He further emphasised that people of all communities are welcome at the temple

Hence, we conclude that the claims of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi helping Muslims in taking over a Ram-Sita Temple in Wayanad are false.