Does This Clip Show People Recently Raising Pakistan's Flags in Karnataka? No!

A video of several people raising the Indian national flag and a green flag is going viral on the internet as a recent incident, amidst the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.

What are users claiming?: While some users said that the visuals were recorded during a Congress' rally, others claimed that Pakistani flags were raised in Karnataka's Tumkur.

We received a query about the viral video on our WhatsApp tipline as well. More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.

Are these claims true?: No, the video has been available online since May 2018 and did not show people raising Pakistan's national flags on the streets.

How did we find that out?: Using the help of Google Lens, we performed a reverse image search and found the same video shared by an X (formerly known as Twitter) user named 'Sushil Kedia'.

• It was shared on 11 May 2018. Its caption, too, mentioned that the video was from Tumkur and showed visuals from a Congress rally.

Comparing visuals: Team WebQoof compared the flag seen in the viral video to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) flag, which highlighted several similarities.

• However, on comparing visuals, it clearly showed that Pakistan's flags were not raised.

What did the police say?: Superintendent of Police (SP) of Tumkur, in a post, clarified that the video was falsely claiming that a Pakistani flag was hoisted.

• The post further said that legal action has been initiated against those sharing this misinformation online.

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