Did Muslim Animal Operators Attack Hindu Devotees At Kedarnath Dham? No, Claim Viral With False Communal Spin

A video from the Kedarnath Dham in Uttarakhand is doing rounds on social media. The video shows a physical quarrel between a group of devotees and some horse and mule operators of the pilgrimage. Later in the video, the altercation escalates, following which the operators start assaulting the pilgrims with sticks.

The video is viral with a communal spin that the operators belonged to the Muslim community and attacked the Hindu visitors at the pilgrimage site. The verified Twitter handle of Navnirman Hindu Sena Parishad -NHSP shared the video with a Hindi caption, "केदारनाथ में जिहादियों का आतंक! वायरल वीडियो उत्तराखंड देवभूमि केदारनाथ धाम का बताया जा रहा है। केदारनाथ में यात्रियों के साथ मुस्लिम जिहादी घोड़ा खच्चर वालों ने यात्रियों को लाठी-डंडों से पीटा।" (English translation: Terror of Jihadis in Kedarnath! Viral video is being told of Uttarakhand Devbhoomi Kedarnath Dham. In Kedarnath, the Muslim Jihadi horse-mules accompanying the passengers beat the passengers with sticks and rods.)

Another Twitter user shared the video on June 14 with the same caption. The post has garnered over 3,600 views with more than 100 retweets.

A Facebook user shared the video on June 13 with the same narrative.

The video is doing rounds on Twitter and Facebook with the same communal spin.

Claim:

Muslims attacked Hindu devotees with sticks at the Kedarnath Dham pilgrimage.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it false. The quarrel has no communal angle as both parties belonged to the same Hindu community.

We began our investigation by looking for media coverage of the incident and found a report published by ANI on June 14. The report titled, "Kedarnath pilgrim attack incident: Horse and mule operators booked" mentioned that the incident took place in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, and a complaint of attack against a pilgrim was registered at the Sonprayag police station.

Another report published by Free Press Journal titled, "On Camera: Horse And Mule Operators At Kedarnath Dham Hit Devotees With Sticks During Fight; Booked" quoted a police official as saying, "Five accused involved in the incident of assault have been identified, and necessary legal action is being taken."

The official Twitter handle of Uttarakhand Police also shared the pictures of the accused and updated that the five have been booked. In the same thread, the police mentioned the names of the accused as Ankit Singh, Santosh Kumar, Rohit Kumar, and Gautam. Further, they noted that a separate action had been taken concerning a minor involved in the incident.

The official Twitter handle of Rudraprayag Police Uttarakhand shared the formal statement by Vishakha Bhadane, Superintendent of Police (SP), Rudraprayag on the same day with a Hindi caption, "केदारनाथ यात्रा पैदल मार्ग पर श्रद्धालुओं के साथ मारपीट व अभद्रता होने पर कोतवाली सोनप्रयाग में अभियोग पंजीकृत कर सख्त कार्यवाही की गयी है। घोड़ा संचालकों के लाईसेन्स निरस्तीकरण की कार्यवाही की गयी है।" (Englsih translation: Strict action has been taken by registering a case in Kotwali Sonprayag for assault and indecency with the devotees on the Kedarnath Yatra pedestrian route. Action has been taken to cancel the license of horse operators.)

Further, the Facebook handle of Rudraprayag Police Uttarakhand shared a detailed description of the incident on June 13. According to the post, Tanuka Pounder, a resident of Mahipalpur in Delhi, registered a complaint against the incident that occurred on June 10. On her way, she noticed a horse fallen in poor condition near Bhimbali bridge and stopped there to seek help, but no one cared. At the same time, she saw another person brutally beating a few animals.

As soon as she intervened, a group of horse and mule operators gathered there, which led to a physical altercation. They started thrashing and abusing Pounder and other pilgrims with sticks and threatened them to leave Uttarakhand. Later, the police identified the five accused and booked them.

We also tried contacting Rudraprayag Police and await their response. However, The Quint spoke to Prabodh Ghildiyal, Circle Officer (CO), Rudraprayag Police, who refuted any communal angle. He said, "We took prompt action and arrested the accused after our investigation. The Hindu-Muslim angle given to this incident is wrong. All accused belong to the Hindu community and the people who were attacked were Hindu pilgrims."

Conclusion:

To sum up, the viral video showing a physical quarrel between a group of devotees and some horse and mule operators of the Kedarnath Dham does not have any communal angle. Both parties belonged to the same Hindu community, and an altercation occurred over the mistreatment of animals during the pilgrimage.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

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