Lighthouse Journalism came across a video of a clash being shared on social media platforms. Through the clothing, one community can be identified as Nihangs (armed Sikh sect). It was claimed along with the video that Nihangs ran away after members of the Muslim community charged on them. The video is being shared as of late. During the investigation we found that the video was old from Amritsar and shows a clash between Nihangs and Christian community people.
Claim:
X user @rajasolanki71070 shared the viral claim on his profile.
Check the archive version of the post here.
Other users too are sharing the video with the same claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by uploading the video in the InVid tool and further getting keyframes. We then ran a reverse image search on the keyframes obtained.
It was through a few YouTube shorts that we came to know that the video featured Nihangs and Christians.
We then ran a Google keyword search checking if there was a clash between the two communities.
We found an article on Tribune India website.
The report uploaded on May 22, 2023 mentioned: Tension gripped the Rajewal village after some miscreants clad in the Nihang attire allegedly created nuisance outside a church during a prayer on Sunday. The suspects were allegedly stopping other Sikhs from entering the church. Their actions earned the ire of the local Christian community.
We found a video on the incident uploaded on the YouTube channel of Rozana Spokesman.
We also found a few videos of the clash uploaded on different media channels.
The video uploaded in May last year mentioned in the description: Around 15-20 people dressed as Nihang Sikhs allegedly att.a.ck.ed a church in a village at Amritsar, on Sunday. The people also damaged vehicles and att.a.ck.ed devotees. Several people suffered critical injuries in the incident. This has sparked outrage among the Christian community. The Christian community has called on a protest against the incident.
A report in Times of India mentioned: On May 21, 2023, Christian community’s two members were seriously injured by a group of sword-wielding Nihangs in a church at Rajewal Village. In September 2022, a group of Nihang Sikhs had also entered a clash with the followers of Radha Soami Satsang at Beas in Amritsar district.
Conclusion: Old video of clash between members of Nihang and Christian community in Rajewal village in Amritsar goes viral as recent clash between members of Muslim and Nihang community. Viral claim is misleading.
