Footage of Hindus attacking India statue falsely shared in anti-Congress posts ahead of election

Indian police said Hindus vandalised a statue of an independence hero in central Madhya Pradesh state following a disagreement over the figure it depicted, contrary to social media posts circulating ahead of national elections that falsely accused Muslims of desecrating the structure. The posts falsely claimed the incident happened in Karnataka, apparently taking a swipe at the opposition Congress party, which rules the state and has been accused of being favourable towards Muslims.

"The Hindus of Karnataka defeated the BJP and formed the Congress party government," read a Hindi-language Facebook post that shared the video.

"Now they are repenting because of the extent to which the Congress government is appeasing Muslims."

India's Congress party wrested power of Karnataka from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2023, taking the key state a year before a general election.

Congress has been accused by supporters of the Hindu nationalist BJP of being more favourable towards India's 200-million-strong Muslim minority.

The video shows a tractor repeatedly ramming into a statue as onlookers cheer and pelt stones at the structure.

It then cuts to a man who says in Hindi: "What's the use of being in an 80-percent majority when those from 20 percent are creating a ruckus?" -- referring to the country's Hindu-Muslim split.

The video was shared in similar posts on social media platform X and on Facebook here and here.

It circulated as India prepared for marathon general elections from April 19 which looked set to hand Modi a third term helming the world's biggest democracy.

Hindu clash

A keyword search on Google found reports that the statue was destroyed by members of a Hindu community in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh -- which is around 680 miles (1,100 kilometres) from Karnataka.

Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the BJP, not Congress.

The Hindustan Times and The Print reported that the statue was torn down in January 2024 following a disagreement between members of two Hindu castes over which historical figure it should depict (archived here and here).

While members of one group -- the Bhim Army and so-called 'scheduled caste' -- sought to install a statue of B.R. Ambedkar, who was India's first law minister and author of the country's constitution, members of the Patidar caste insisted the statue should instead honour independence hero Vallabhbhai Patel, who was India's first deputy prime minister.

Patel's statue was erected but later found vandalised, allegedly by members of the Bhim Army and scheduled caste, The Hindustan Times quoted police saying.

Hindi-language news channel Times Now Navbharat posted footage of the incident on YouTube on January 25, 2024 (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false posts (left) and Times Now Navbharat's video (right):

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP-Rural) Nitesh Bhargava confirmed the incident happened in Ujjain on January 25, 2024.

"There is no religious angle here as the clash took place between groups belonging to two different castes," he told AFP on April 4.

"This is an old video and this case has been closed now as the arrests were made."

AFP has previously debunked posts peddling misinformation about religious tensions here, here and here.