The Logical Indian Crew

Media Outlets Widely Circulate False Claims Over Islamic Flag Hoisted In Bihar

News agency ANI and media outlets such as News18 Bihar, Times Now Navbharat, and Zee Bihar reported that a Pakistani flag had been unfurled on a building in Purnea, Bihar. The reports broke out on January 26, 2023, which additionally alleged that the Pakistani flag had been removed after it led to unrest in the area

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Major media outlets such as News18 Bihar, Times Now Navbharat, and Zee Bihar reported that a Pakistani flag had been unfurled on a building in Purnea, Bihar. The reports broke out on January 26, 2023, which additionally alleged that the Pakistani flag had been removed after it led to unrest in the area.

Claim:

The visuals show a building in a residential area where a green flag can be seen hoisted on top of the building.

In a tweet uploaded on January 26, 2023, news agency ANI said, “A Pakistani flag was hoisted in the Madhubani Sipahi Tola area in Purnea.” The news agency quoted Pawan Chowdhary, SHO Madhubani noting that the police reached the “suspect's” house, and the flag was removed.

News outlets Times Now Navbharat, Times of India, Mid Day, News18 Bihar, The New Indian, and CNN News18 shared the same visuals with similar claims.





Media outlets AmarUjala, Free Press Journal, Live Hindustan, India TV News and NavBharat shared similar claims in the form of news reports.

Image Credit: Amar Ujala
Image Credit: Amar Ujala


Image Credit: Hindustan
Image Credit: Hindustan


Image Credit: Free Press Journal
Image Credit: Free Press Journal


Image Credit: NavBharat
Image Credit: NavBharat

An excerpt from the Free Press Journal report reads, “A Pakistani flag was hoisted in the Madhubani Sipahi Tola area in Purnea on Thursday, causing a furore in the area. The flag was hosted on the house owned by Mohammad Mubarukuddin, and it is located adjacent to the local mosque.”

BJP leaders tweeted visuals from the reports with similar claims. For example, Tripura BJP secretary Amit Rakshit, BJP Gujarat state media co-head Zubin Ashara, BJP Andhra Pradesh state secretary Ramesh Naidu Nagothu, and Andhra BJP general secretary Vishnu Vardhan Reddy.




Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The flag in question is an Islamic flag.

We conducted a keyword search and came across a report by the Times of India published on January 26, 2023, with the title, ‘Pakistan’s flag not hoisted in Bihar's Purnia, say police’. Quoting Superintendent of Police, Purnea District, Aamir Jawaid, denied the allegations and said that no such flag was hoisted as reported by several sections of media.

As per the TOI report, the incident allegedly took place in the Sipahi Tola area of Madhubani TOP police station in the district. “According to police, a religious flag was hoisted at a house owned by Mohammad Mubarakuddin, which is located adjacent to the local mosque,” said the report.

The police also added that it was a religious flag, not a Pakistani one, and was hoisted at the residence a month ago, as per TOI.

Image Credit: Times Of India
Image Credit: Times Of India

The same information was highlighted by a Twitter user as well saying, “After doing a little research, it will be known that this is not the flag of Pakistan but a 'religious flag', on which news has been made earlier also.”

Fact-Checker Mohammed Zubair shared an image of the flag that was removed by the police in a tweet on January 27, 2023. He noted that the image was sent by the SP for the Purnea District. “The reader can clearly spot the white coloured stripe with black zig-zag lines on it and the blue stripe,” Zubair said in his tweet.

We then compared the flag shared and the flag of Pakistan. In the flag shared by media outlets, a distinct portion with a black-and-white part and a blue stripe with prints on it can be seen. This is entirely different from the Pakistan's flag pattern which can be seen below.

Image Comparission
Image Comparission

We also came across a statement by Purnea Police on Twitter published on January 26, 2023. The translated tweet from Hindi reads, "On today's date, 26.01.2023 at 5.30 PM, information was received that a person in Sipahi Tola in Madhubani area is hoisting the flag of another country on his roof. After the information was received our investigation found that the said flag is a religious flag which has been installed there for about a month."

The Logical Indian's Fact Check Team had recently investigated similar claims regarding an Islamic flag hoisted on top of a mosque which was demolished and found them to be misleading.

Conclusion:

We found that the viral claim is false. The flag in question is an Islamic flag that has been ascertained after statements from local police and media reports. Hence, the viral claim is false.

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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Contributors Suggest Correction
Writer : Jakir Hassan
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Editor : Bharat Nayak
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Creatives : Jakir Hassan

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