ISLAMABAD: Known Islamophobic provocateur Salwan Momika and other users shared a false video on social media platform X, claiming it depicted a Christian man being brutally beaten by people in Pakistan. However, the video is actually from a 2022 incident in Bhopal, India.
On August 28, Momika posted the false video with a caption stating, “His only crime is being a Christian among Muslims in Pakistan. Could Muslims be treated in the same way in the West by Christians?” This post gained attention, accumulating four million views and 12,000 shares. Other users also widely shared the video with similar captions.
Due to the video’s viral nature, false information and the disturbing claims, a fact-check was conducted. A reader’s note was added to Momika’s post, clarifying that the video was from Madhya Pradesh, India, in August 2022, unrelated to Pakistan.
Further investigation confirmed this, with a November 5, 2022 article from The Free Press Journal detailing the incident. The video showed a 12th-grade student being beaten by classmates in Bhopal, India and the case was filed against the attackers.
Additionally, a March 20, 2023 report by Indian fact-checking outlet Alt News debunked similar false communal claims linked to the same video. The fact-check concluded that the viral video’s claims of a Christian man being beaten by Muslims in Pakistan are completely false. The incident actually took place in Bhopal, India, in 2022.
