DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video has gone viral on social media with a claim that a mosque was demolished by a local government in Saidabad Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh after it hoisted Pakistan’s national flag.
*योगी बाबा के राज्य में, सैदाबाद प्रयागराज( उ0प्र)* *मस्जिद पर पाकिस्तान का झंडा लहराने पर योगी ने मस्जिद ही उखड़वादी* pic.twitter.com/8729tYCqrc
— Aamita Ssinnggaa (@ssinnggaa) January 15, 2023
The claim reads in Hindi: “*योगी बाबा के राज्य में, सैदाबाद प्रयागराज( उ0प्र)* *मस्जिद पर पाकिस्तान का झंडा लहराने पर योगी ने मस्जिद ही उखड़वादी*”[Under the rule of Yogi Baba, in Saidabad Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh), a mosque was demolished for hoisting Pakistan’s flag.] Yogi Baba or Yogi Adityanath is the Chief Minister of BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh. The video was shared on Facebook on January 14, 2023 and on twitter here and here.
The three-minute clip shows parts of a building being torn down by bulldozers and several flags are seen on top of the building, claimed to be a mosque. The video has been going viral soon after demolition of parts of a historic mosque Shahi Masjid on January 9.
Fact Check
The demolition was carried out for the expansion of the Great Trunk Road (GT Road) next to the building on January 9, after the mosque committee failed to get a stay from the court. Another claim that it was demolished as it “hoisted a Pakistani flag” was also wrong as it was denied by the local police as well.
The imam of the Shahi Masjid, Babul Hussain, tweeted that parts of the mosque were torn down to make way for an expansion of the GT Road. “The demolition was due to road widening, which we are already fighting in court,” he said on January 16 in his tweet.
Shahi Masjid martyred in Handia, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh!! Construction was done during time of Sher Shah Suri, demolition was done in presence of Public Works Department for widening of GT Road!
Imam Md Babul Hussain said the matter in lower court was listed for January 16th!! pic.twitter.com/yGt99eaZ4b
— Muslim Spaces (@MuslimSpaces) January 14, 2023
A tweet from the official account of the police in Prayagraj on January 15 confirmed that the demolition was part of the road-widening exercise. “The mosque was removed on January 9, 2023, after an agreement was reached after talks between the members of the mosque committee and officials of the Public Works Department,” read the Hindi-language tweet.
हंडिया में शाही मस्जिद का हुआ ध्वस्तीकरण: शेर शाह सूरी के समय में हुआ था निर्माण, लोक निर्माण विभाग की मौजूदगी में की गई कार्रवाई
इमाम मोहम्मद बाबुल हुसैन ने बताया कि 9 जनवरी को जब मस्जिद को गिराया गया उस दिन भी लोअर कोर्ट में मस्जिद को लेकर सुनवाई हुई थीhttps://t.co/eg1gTI9jhX
— Muslim Spaces (@MuslimSpaces) January 17, 2023
Local Hindi newspaper Dainik Bhaskar published a report about the demolition, stating it was related to a road-widening project. The newspaper reported that a case was to be heard in a lower court, but the demolition took place before legal proceedings were concluded.
Not a Pakistan flag
The flag in green can be seen in the image below and not every green flag is a Pakistani flag. The notion of Pakistani flag is seen in many such claims and debunked by Digiteye India in the past here and here.
Similarly, the flag is not a Pakistani flag as seen on the mosque and for comparison, we have inserted the original Pakistani flag that also has a white stripe as seen below: Hence, this claim is also false.
Claim: UP mosque hoisting Pakistani flag demolished by Yogi Adityanath government.
Conclusion: The flag was not of Pakistan and the demolition was part of a road-widening project.
Rating: Totally False — 
