Addressing a public meeting at Kurukshetra in poll-bound Haryana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on September 14, 2024, “In Congress-ruled Karnataka, even Ganpati is being put in jail. They have placed and locked Ganpatiji in a police van. While the entire nation is celebrating the Ganesh Utsav, Congress is creating obstacles in worshipping Lord Ganesha, the destroyer of obstacles.” He added that Congress could go to any length for appeasement.
He repeated the claim while making an address in Bhubaneswar on September 17. He said, “…in Karnataka, where their (Congress) government is in power, they committed an even greater offence by placing an idol of Lord Ganesha behind bars…”
Bhubaneswar, Odisha: PM Narendra Modi says, “People hungry for power are troubled by Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. You might have noticed that Congress and its ecosystem have been agitated in recent days because I participated in Ganesh Puja. Furthermore, in Karnataka, where… pic.twitter.com/BbNpH1m9v8
— IANS (@ians_india) September 17, 2024
A picture of an idol of Hindu deity Ganesha in a police van had already gone viral on social media when PM Modi mentioned it in Haryana.
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya shared the image on X on September 13, 2024, and claimed that Congress was “hell-bent on insulting our dieties, & belittling the belief and faith of millions of Hindus(?)” (sic) (archive)
This visual of Lord Ganesha in a police vehicle is terrifying.
Why is the Congress hell-bent on insulting our dieties, & belittling the belief and faith of millions of Hindus? pic.twitter.com/mFux03khJg
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) September 13, 2024
The image was also shared by X user Girish Bharadwaj (@Girishvhp), who identifies himself as a ‘Swayamsevak’ on his X bio and is associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. He claimed that “Bhagavan Ganesha… was detained by the Karnataka police.” He also wrote that “the arrest followed a protest condemning the incident of stone-pelting by Muslims on a Ganesh procession in Nagamangala, Mandya.” (archive)
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐚—
Bhagavan Ganesha, along with Hindu activists, was detained by the Karnataka Police. The arrests followed protests condemning the stone-pelting by Muslims on a Ganesha procession… pic.twitter.com/IZs40dPQHI
— Girish Bharadwaj (@Girishvhp) September 13, 2024
At the time of this article being written, the tweet was viewed over 2.6 Lakh times and reshared close to 5,000 times.
Several X users, including top BJP leaders, amplified the claim. They include BJP national general secretary B L Santosh (@blsantosh), Karnataka state BJP president Vijayendra Yediyurappa (@BYVijayendra), national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala (@Shehzad_Ind), the party’s Bengaluru Central MP P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP), Varun Kumar Rana (@VarunKrRana), Manish Kashyap son of Bihar (@ManishKasyapsob), Shalendra Sharma (@Shalendervoice), Jitendra Pratap Singh (@jpsin1) and several others.
Media outlets, too, reported on the incident. News agency ANI (@ANI) reached out to Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde for a byte on the viral claim and amplified the claim that “an idol of Ganapati had been seized.” (archive)
#WATCH | On Ganapati idol row in Karnataka, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde says, “It is unfortunate. They have stopped the celebration of Lord Ganapati and the idol of Ganapati has also been seized. The people of Maharashtra, the people of the country, will not sit without giving… pic.twitter.com/fgmnsimqq5
— ANI (@ANI) September 14, 2024
Republic reported the PM speech and mentioned that the incident had taken place in Nagamangala taluk. The headline said, “Even Ganpati Being Put Behind Bars in Congress-Ruled Karnataka: PM Modi”. The subhead mentioned, “Today the situation has become such that even Ganpati is being put behind bars in the Congress-ruled Karnataka”, said PM Modi.”
Fact Check
A relevant keyword search led us to a report by The News Minute. Headlined “Controversy erupts in Bengaluru over Ganesha idol in police van: What really happened?”, the report narrates the sequence of events which resulted in the idol of Ganesha in a police van.
The report says, “The incident unfolded during a protest at Bengaluru’s Town Hall on September 13, where protesters had gathered to demand a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the communal clash that erupted in Mandya district during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. Around 11:30 am, a group of protesters gathered at the Town Hall, with one of them carrying a Ganesha idol on a pedestal. The protest was organised by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Ganesh Utsava Committee.
The problem started as city regulations allow protests only at Freedom Park. Protests at all other locations are clamped down by the police, following a Karnataka High Court order.
“In an effort to manage the situation, a police officer placed the idol in an empty police van intended for the protesters. The move was to protect the deity. But it created confusion and resulted in accusations after the photos went viral,” a police official told TNM.
The police detained around 40 protesters, and the Ganesha idol was later immersed in Ulsoor lake by the authorities.”
A report in The Times of India corroborates this. It says, “… around 25 people had gathered, with one protester boldly holding up a 1ft-tall Ganesha idol on a pedestal. As per city rules, protests are only allowed at Freedom Park, so police arrived swiftly, ready to detain the crowd.”
The official X handle of DCP central division of Bengaluru Police (@DCPCentralBCP) issued a statement in this regard.
The first of their tweets said, “Clarification regarding viral social media posts stating that authorities snatched Ganesh idol from devotees going for immersion near Town Hall in Bengaluru…”
Clarification regarding viral social media posts stating that authorities snatched Ganesh idol from devotees going for immersion near Town Hall in Bengaluru…
— DCP Central Division,ಉಪ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಆಯುಕ್ತ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ವಿಭಾಗ (@DCPCentralBCP) September 15, 2024
A subsequent tweet mentioned that on September 13, 2024, Hindu groups defied High Court orders and protested at Bengaluru’s Town Hall over the Nagamangala incident. To this, the Karnataka police detained the demonstrators, and the Ganpati idol was later immersed by the authorities following rituals. They also shared pictures of the idol immersion.
On Sept 13, 2024, Hindu groups protested at Bengaluru’s Town Hall over the Nagamangala Ganesh procession incident, defying a HC order. Demonstrators detained. Ganapati idol was later immersed by authorities with rituals. pic.twitter.com/GUKF6gla1e
— DCP Central Division,ಉಪ ಪೊಲೀಸ್ ಆಯುಕ್ತ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ವಿಭಾಗ (@DCPCentralBCP) September 15, 2024
The readers should also note that within a short span of time, the idol was taken out of the van and shifted to a police jeep. The TOI report mentioned above states, “…the sight of the lonely Ganesha in the van caught the eye of photographers, and police soon realised how the scene might escalate. In a flurry of action, a police officer rushed back to the van, carefully retrieved the idol, and moved it to a police jeep.”
There is video evidence to corroborate this:
What Happened in Nagamangala?
Several news reports documented an incident at Nagamangala, Mandya, on September 11, 2024, against which the demonstrators were agitating in Bengaluru. Clashes reportedly broke out between two groups during a Ganesh idol immersion procession. As many as 52 people had been arrested. The Economic Times writes, “According to police, an argument broke out between two groups, when the Ganesh idol procession by devotees from Badarikoppalu village reached a place of worship on Wednesday, and some miscreants hurled stones, which escalated the situation. Following the clashes between the two groups, a few shops were vandalised and goods torched and vehicles set on fire on Wednesday night, they added.”
To sum up, that the viral social media claims that police ‘detained’ or ‘arrested’ Hindu deity Ganesha are false. The photo of the Ganesha idol in a police van was clicked after policemen had retrieved the idol from the protesters in Bengaluru. The claim by PM Modi, too, is hence misleading.
The Times of India report mentioned in this story got the headline wrong as it claimed that the entire ruckus took place in Mandya.
Ankita Mahalanobish is an intern at Alt News.
The post Ganesha idol in Bengaluru police van: Viral claims misleading; PM Modi leads Right Wing’s misinformation campaign appeared first on Alt News.
This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.
Ankita Mahalanobish | Radio Free (2024-09-18T06:24:48+00:00) Ganesha idol in Bengaluru police van: Viral claims misleading; PM Modi leads Right Wing’s misinformation campaign. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2024/09/18/ganesha-idol-in-bengaluru-police-van-viral-claims-misleading-pm-modi-leads-right-wings-misinformation-campaign/
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