Edited photo falsely claims people from lowered castes banned from entering Rajasthan temple

By: Rajini KG
May 25 2023

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Edited photo falsely claims people from lowered castes banned from entering Rajasthan temple

Fact-Check

The Verdict False

The image of the temple has been morphed. The original image of the temple shows there was no such text written on it.

Claim ID c7821fce

Context

An image is circulating on social media claiming that a temple in Sarohi, Rajasthan, is not allowing people from lowered castes to enter. The image was shared on Facebook, Twitter. The image has the text "Hindu Rashtra" (Hindu Nation) added to it, and shows text written in Hindi on the wall which translates to, "The entry of Harijan caste people is prohibited in this temple." Harijan was a term coined by Mahatma Gandhi to refer to certain castes and communities in India considered “untouchable.” While the use of the term ‘harijan’ has been discontinued for sounding condescending, these castes often continue to face discrimination. 

The image shows that the name of the temple in Sirohi is Ramayan Raviyatha Sri Valmiki Rishi Mandir. Many users shared the image and claimed that the temple authorities were discriminating on the basis of caste.

However, this is false. A photograph of the temple has been digitally altered and shared with a false claim.

In Fact

Logically Facts examined the image and noticed some discrepancies. The black text on the walls of the temple is in a different font, and looks superimposed onto the image. The temple wall is at an angle in the picture, but the text on the wall is not angled, which indicates that it was added to the image later, and is not painted on the walls.

Through a reverse image search, we found the viral image has been making rounds for the past two months. This image was posted on Twitter on March 7, 2023, by a user named @aakashchawariy. In a reply to this tweet, the Sirohi police had then shared a picture of the temple taken on the same day, and said no such wording was found on the temple's walls. The tweet said, “This photo has been taken by the police after visiting the spot, in which nothing like this is visible.” 

On May 23, 2023, after the image resurfaced, Shubham Shukla, whose bio states that he is a journalist, also posted the viral image and the original image posted by Sirohi police, and urged people not to share the edited photo.

The Verdict

The image that claims that lowered caste people are not allowed in the Valmiki temple in Sirohi has been digitally altered with a false claim. Therefore, we mark this claim as false.

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