A 40-second video is viral across social media platforms with the claim that it shows Muslim children purposefully sabotaging train tracks in a bid to cause railway accidents in India. Some users on X have tagged this as an instance of ‘Rail Jihad.’ In the video, three children, dressed in kurtas, appear to be tampering with the railway tracks. One of them can be seen loosening the bolts of a fish plate with a large spanner, while another child can be seen collecting the bolts in a sack.
@SureshChavhanke, the editor-in-chief of propaganda outlet Sudarshan News, tweeted the video and urged the Railway Minister to give orders to RPF to shoot people indulging in such acts. (Archive)
इस उम्र में ये रेल की पटरियां उखाड़ रहे हैं। सोचिए, अगले 50 वर्षों में ये क्या करेंगे?
डॉ. बाबासाहेब अंबेडकर जी ने इनके बारे में क्या कहा था, उसे सत्ता को पढ़ना और समझना चाहिए। केवल उनके नाम जाप से कुछ नहीं होगा। @AshwiniVaishnaw जी, ऐसी हरकतें दिखते ही गोली मारने का आदेश… pic.twitter.com/Y2UXzkYBBI— Dr. Suresh Chavhanke “Sudarshan News” (@SureshChavhanke) August 30, 2024
X-verified user @XSecular_ posted the video, using expletives to refer to Muslim children, and urging the railway minister to take action against Muslim slum dwellers near railway tracks. At the time of this article being written, the post has managed to accumulate more than 6 Lakh views and has been re-shared more than 9,500 times. (Archive)
वीडियो पता नही कहा की है पर आप कपड़ो से पहचान सकते हो सूर के पिल्लों को @RailMinIndia @AshwiniVaishnaw
महोदय जितने भी रेलवे पटरी के आस पास मुस्लिम झुग्गी झोपड़ी में पड़े है उन्हें हटाओ नही तो किसी दिन ये जिहादी बहुत बड़ा कांड कर देंगे pic.twitter.com/nvoZGrf0UP— 𝐗 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 (@XSecular_) August 29, 2024
X-verified user @TheSquind, with its long history of peddling disinformation and Islamophobic content on social media, tweeted the video, alluding to the Muslim children as being instrumental in railway accidents. (Archive)
Fault News: Just kids playing in the railway track with spanners! pic.twitter.com/QLQds9oMjz
— Squint Neon (@TheSquind) August 29, 2024
X-verified users @ByRakeshSimha and @VinodGupta139, too, posted the viral video.
The video is also viral on Facebook with the same claim.
Click to view slideshow.Fact Check
We ran a reverse image search on one of the key frames from the viral video, and came across a Facebook video uploaded by a profile named ‘Pakistani Trains‘ on December 5, 2023. Therefore, it is evident that the Facebook video is at least eight-month old. Further, the caption of the video, when translated from Urdu to English, reads: “Near Sartaj Khan Phatak, Boat Basin Chowki, the valuable goods of railway line are being stolen a lot. P.S. Boat Basin is requested to take this action.” Further, the bio of the profile attributes its administration to a certain Fahad Asif, whose YouTube channel is also linked in the page. On examining the channel, we found several videos on Pakistani railways.
سر تاج خان پہاٹک بوٹ بیسن چوکی کی پاس ریلوے لائن کا قیمتی سامان کافی دینو سے چوری ہورہا ہے پی ایس بوٹ بیسن سے درخواست ہے کہ اس ایکشن لیا جائے
Posted by Pakistani Trains on Tuesday 5 December 2023
Taking a cue from the translated caption of the video linked above, we ran another relevant keyword search on Facebook, and came across this Facebook post by the Media Cell – DIG South Zone, from December 5, 2023. The caption, which is in Urdu, reports on a case of theft of track nut bolts from the Sartaj Khan Phatak railway line, near Boat Basin Chowki. In the latter part of the video, starting from the 29-second mark, three children are interrogated as to their participation in the theft. On account of all three of them being juveniles, one of the children’s father also appears in the video and takes accountability of the theft in which his son had participated. They can be seen admitting that they had stolen bolts and screws from between train tracks from a location they disclose as ‘Shireen Jinnah’.
بوٹ بیسن چوکی کے قریب سرتاج خان پھاٹک ریلوے لائن سے پٹری کے نٹ بولٹ چوری کی ویڈیو کا معاملہ۔
ڈی آئی جی ساؤتھ کی ہدایت پر ایس ایچ او بوٹ بیسن نے کاروائی کرتے ہوۓ ریلوے پھاٹک سے سامان چوری کرنے والے نو عمر بچوں کو تھانے لایا گیا۔
بچے چونکہ چھوٹے ہیں اس بنا پر بچوں کے والدین کو تھانے بلایا گیا۔
جنہیں بچوں کی چوری سے متعلق آگاہ کرتے ہوۓ تنبیہ کی گئی کے اپنے بچوں کا دھیان رکھیں اور انکی روز مرہ کی غیر معمولی سرگرمیوں پر کڑی نظر رکھیں۔
والدین کی طرف سے یقین دھانی کرائے جانے پر بچوں کو والدین کے حوالے کردیا گیا ۔
Posted by Media Cell – DIG South Zone on Tuesday 5 December 2023
Shireen Jinnah is a colony in the Boat Basin area in Karachi, Pakistan.
Further, we came across another YouTube video which presents a concise report on the theft. The voice-over narration adds that the three children had been taken into police custody by the Boat Basin police, where they were questioned by the officer in-charge, named in the video as ‘Shahzad’.
To sum up, the video which is viral with the claim that Muslim children are purposefully sabotaging railway tracks in order to cause accidents in India is actually a clip from December 2023. On investigating, Alt News found that this video is from Karachi, Pakistan, and depicts three children stealing nuts and bolts from railway tracks.
Prantik Ali is an intern at Alt News.
The post Karachi video from 2023 viral as Muslim kids sabotaging railway tracks in India appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Prantik Ali.
Prantik Ali | Radio Free (2024-08-31T06:28:34+00:00) Karachi video from 2023 viral as Muslim kids sabotaging railway tracks in India. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/08/31/karachi-video-from-2023-viral-as-muslim-kids-sabotaging-railway-tracks-in-india/
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