By Anmol Alphonso
An old video from Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir showing people bursting firecrackers in a street, is being peddled online as Kashmiris celebrating Pakistan's victory over India at the Asia Cup T20 cricket match on Sunday.
Pakistan beat India by five wickets on September 4, 2022, in a thriller that went down to the last over as Pakistan successfully chased down the 182-run target set by India, in Dubai.
The viral video was tweeted by Sudarshan News with a Hindi caption which roughly translates to, "In Srinagar, they celebrated India's loss to Pakistan by bursting firecrackers. It is necessary to ensure the complete destruction of these snakes. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCupT20"
(Original text in Hindi - श्रीनगर में पाकिस्तान के सामने भारत की हार पर मनाई गई खुशी, फोड़े गए पटाखे. इन सपोलों का समूल विनाश सुनिश्चित किया जाना जरूरी है. #INDvsPAK #AsiaCupT20)
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The same video was also tweeted by Sudarshan News reporter Sagar Kumar with the caption when translated reads, "Fireworks broke out in Srinagar on the victory of Pakistan"
(Text in Hindi - पाकिस्तान की जीत पर श्रीनगर में जमकर हुई आतिशबाजी)
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Both these accounts deleted their tweets after Srinagar Police rubbished the claim and stated that the viral video is old. BOOM has previously debunked misinformation shared by Sudarshan News.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Azad Kashmir's Twitter account also tweeted the same video repeating the false claim.
Also Read:2011 Video Of Family Swept Away In Indore Shared As Floods In Pakistan
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is old and is not related to India's loss to Pakistan at the Asia Cup 2022 T20 match on September 4, 2022.
Srinagar Police quote tweeted Sudarshan News reporter Sagar Kumar's tweet and rubbished the claim stating that it is an old video from Nawakadal chowk in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking a hint from the location, we then ran a keyword search on YouTube using the keywords 'Nawakadal chowk' 'firecrackers' 'Srinagar' and 'Pakistan'. The search results showed the same video uploaded on YouTube on August 14, 2020, with the title, "Firecrackers on Pakistan's independence Day in Downtown, Srinagar"
We can see the same visuals in YouTube upload from 2020 thus proving that the video is old. The caption of the video stated that the location of the video is from Nawakadal, Srinagar.
We then searched for videos from Nawakadal chowk available on YouTube and compared it with the visuals seen in the viral video. Using Google Maps we geo-located the mosque seen in the video as Masjid Abu Bakar close to Nawakadal chowk. The structure matches the mosque seen in the viral video.
Even the Idea (telecom operator) board can be seen in the viral video and a YouTube video on Downtown Srinagar from September 4, 2021. The below comparison shows that the location in the viral video matches the location - Nawakadal Chowk in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
The same video was also widely shared on Facebook on August 14, 2020, with the caption, "locals in downtown area of #srinagar celebrated #pakistan's #independenceday"
BOOM was unable to independently verify the incident. It is possible that the video might be older.
However we were able to establish that the video can be found online dating back to at least August 2020, more than two years before India vs Pakistan's Asia Cup 2022 match.
