AP temple demolished for renovation is falsely shared as due to road extension
Claim
Shiv temple was demolished in Andhra Pradesh, the tomb was not even touched to widen the road. Are all equal in secular rule?
Rating
Explanation
In the above viral twee, the video shows a JCB excavator demolishing a temple operating from the first floor in a street. We were also able to see a green colour mosque sitting just opposite to the temple intact. The user has claimed stating that the Shiv temple is demolished and destruscted for the road widening process, meanwhile, the tomb stands still and its not even touched.
He went on to ask if this is how all are equal and secular here? This same video is shared by many user with similar claims which can be seen here, here and here. Come, let’s check the authenticity of this viral video.
What’s the truth?
When we started our research using the relevant keywords we found out that the same video is shared from 2020 with similar claims in Facebook which can be watched here and here. So, this proves that this is an old video and not from the recent times.
Moreover, when we researched further we got our hands on newspaper clip shared by a user namely, Rakesh Kurapati on his Facebook post on 6 March 2020 as, “See this news don’t spread fake news” for the above viral video.
Since the newspaper was in the Telugu language, we used Google lens for translation purpose and came to know that the temple located in Vijayawada was demolished not for road widening as claimed by the social media users. According to the news article, a part of the building of Vijayeshwara temple consisting of narrow shops with stairs was demolished in order to increase the area of the temple. Moreover, on the right-hand side, the article also states that a clip of this renovation is being falsely shared as demolition on social media.
However, we also got the clarity from the Andhra Pradesh Government’s fact check handle. They cleared the air by stating that the video of temple getting demolished for the renovation process is falsely shared on social media with misleading claims since March 2020.
All the above evidence clearly proves that the video is old and the temple is demolished for renovation purpose and not for road broadening work.
As per the Telugu news article, the clip shows the renovation of Sri Vijayeshwara Swamy Vari Devasthanam, and not its demolition as claimed.
Conclusion:
Therefore, we conclude that the above viral video of destroying a temple with JCB is from March 2020 and it has nothing to do with road widening work since its demolished for increasing the area and its rampart.
