DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video of a group of Kanwariyas or devotees of Lord Shiva damaging a car in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, is making rounds on social media with a claim that the crowd attacked a Muslim couple sitting inside. The driver was seen with a woman sitting beside him in a burqa. Some Kanwariyas are seen arguing with a man sitting in the car and soon the woman leaves the car and then the crowd topples the car.
The caption on Twitter reads in Hindi:शिव को मानने वाले ऐसी हुड़दंगई कैसे कर सकते है? हरिद्वार के मंगलोर मंडी के पास कार बैक करते हुए कावड़ियों से टकरा गई इसके बाद कावड़ियों ने कार को मिल पलट दी. कार चलाने वाला मुस्लिम था, कार में उसकी फैमिली भी थी और कार पलटते वक़्त वहां मौजूद पुलिस क्या कर रही थी कुछ लोगों का कहना है कि कावड़िया ले जाते वक़्त किसी चीज़ को छू नही सकते है, तब तो जितने लोगों ने बवाल काटा कार को धकेला वो भी अशुद्ध हो गए होंगे और कार उन सब से तो नही टकराई थी.
[Translated version in English reads: “How can those who believe in Shiva create such hue and cry? The car collided with the Kavadis while backing up near Mangalore Mandi in Haridwar, after which the Kavadis overturned the car. The driver of the car was a Muslim, his family was also in the car and what was the police present there doing when the car overturned? Some people say that one cannot touch anything while carrying Kavadiya, then all the people who pushed the car in a ruckus must have become impure and the car did not hit all of them.”लोकेशन–मंगलोर,हरिद्वार,उत्तराखंड
कावड़ियों ने मुस्लिम पति–पत्नी की कार को पलट को पलट दिया।
यह वीडियो मगलोर मंडी की बताई जा रही है
एक लोकल न्यूज़ पोर्टल के अनुसार कार से कावड़ियों को हल्की ठोकर लगी थी।इस्लामोफोबिया अपने चरम पर पहुंच गया जिसका कोई इलाज ।#Islamophobia pic.twitter.com/TZv1MGzmTd
— The Muslim (@TheMuslim786) July 11, 2023
The post was shared with varying remarks. One message read:”शिव को मानने वाले ऐसी हुड़दंगई कैसे कर सकते है? हरिद्वार के मंगलोर मंडी के पास कार बैक करते हुए कावड़ियों से टकरा गई इसके बाद कावड़ियों ने कार को मिल पलट दी. कार चलाने वाला मुस्लिम था, कार में उसकी फैमिली भी थी और कार पलटते वक़्त वहां मौजूद पुलिस क्या कर रही थी कुछ लोगों का कहना है कि कावड़िया ले जाते वक़्त किसी चीज़ को छू नही सकते है, तब तो जितने लोगों ने बवाल काटा कार को धकेला वो भी अशुद्ध हो गए होंगे और कार उन सब से तो नही टकराई थी.”
[Translated version reads:”How can those who believe in Shiva create such hue and cry? The car collided with the Kavadis while backing up near Mangalore Mandi in Haridwar, after which the Kavadis overturned the car. The driver of the car was a Muslim, his family was also in the car and what was the police present there doing when the car overturned? Some people say that one cannot touch anything while carrying Kavadiya, then all the people who pushed the car in a ruckus must have become impure and the car did not hit all of them.”शिव को मानने वाले ऐसी हुड़दंगई कैसे कर सकते है?
हरिद्वार के मंगलोर मंडी के पास कार बैक करते हुए कावड़ियों से टकरा गई इसके बाद कावड़ियों ने कार को मिल पलट दी.
कार चलाने वाला मुस्लिम था, कार में उसकी फैमिली भी थी और कार पलटते वक़्त वहां मौजूद पुलिस क्या कर रही थी?
कुछ लोगों का… pic.twitter.com/ZKiMBuaK4h
— Puneet Kumar Singh (@puneetsinghlive) July 11, 2023
The post is being shared here and here on Twitter and other social media platforms.
FACT CHECK
When the Digiteye India team checked for the incident on Google, it was reported in major news sources but without any communal angle as was claimed in the above message. When searched further on Uttarakhand police social media platforms regarding the incident, Haridwar Police’s Facebook page has shown a post from the police dated July 11, 2023 that confirmed the incident but denied that the couple were Muslims. It said the incident took place after the car hit a Kanwariya while reversing and an argument followed between the car driver and the Kanwariyas, who later toppled the car. The driver was a Hindu and the incident has no communal angle, said the Haridwar Police.
[English version: “. !! ️ DENIAL !! ❤️
People commenting on misleading information without information
Please don’t you do this
The video of the car being damaged by Kanvadis after colliding with a car in Mangalore area on July 10 is going viral on social media.
In which it is now being circulated/broadcasted through social media that there were a couple of community specialists in the car and police have not taken any action on the matter.
This thing is completely wrong !!
While the incident has nothing to do with any special community and two persons have been arrested by Haridwar Police on the complaint of local resident Pratap Singh, the driver of the damaged car, a lawsuit is underway.
False facts are being propagated by some “antisocial elements” without knowing the truth.
Please you avoid doing this
Strict action will be taken against the concerned for spreading misleading and false facts.]
Further search on Google News revealed that the woman in burqa was an acquaintance of the driver and not his wife. The Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh told Hindustan Times that the incident does not have any communal angle. “The incident has no connection to any community. A case has been registered on the complaint of the owner of the damaged car who has been identified as local resident Pratap Singh. The miscreants who indulged in violence are being identified,” he said. Hence, the incident has been given communal tweak without any basis.
Claim: Some Kanwariyas attacked a Muslim couple in a car near Mangalore Mandi in Haridwar and overturned the car. What was the police present there doing?
Conclusion: Though the woman in the car was seen wearing a burqa, the incident has nothing to do with any attack on Muslims as the driver was identified as Pratap Singh, a Hindu.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
