No, Pakistan’s Flag Was Not Raised in Bhatkal After Congress Won Karnataka Polls

Uttara Kannada SP Vishnuvardhana N told the media that the flag raised in Bhatkal was not Pakistan's national flag.

The video is being shared to claim that people hoisted Pakistan's flag after Congress won the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a green flag being raised alongside a saffron flag, a Congress flag and a flag supporting BR Ambedkar has gone viral on social media. 

What are users claiming?: The video is being shared to claim that people raised Pakistan’s flag in Karnataka after Congress won the state’s Assembly elections. 

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts with the same claim can be seen here, here, here and here.)

But…?: The video shows an Islamic flag, not Pakistan’s national flag.

• The video is from Samshuddin circle in Karnataka’s Bhatkal, where people raised different flags – including one with Bhatkal’s Congress candidate Mankal Subba Vaidya’s face – with each other.

• Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhana N also issued a statement saying that police personnel present on the spot had confirmed that the flag was not that of Pakistan.

How did we find out?: Using relevant keywords, we looked for reports on the incident.

• We came across a report by TV9 Kannada that mentioned that the video was from Karnataka’s Bhatkal constituency, where a Congress candidate won in the state’s Assembly elections.

• It said that an Islamic flag was raised and hoisted alongside a saffron flag at Samshuddin Circle.

• A search for the street view of the circle on Google Maps confirmed that the location was Bhatkal’s Samshuddin Circle.

The video was taken at Bhatkal's Samshuddin circle.

(Source: Twitter/Google Maps/Altered by The Quint)

• We compared Pakistan’s national flag to the flag seen in the video, and saw that the flag in the viral video did not have a white stripe on the side.

The flag is not Pakistan’s national flag.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

Cops issue clarification: A news report by Vartha Bharati mentioned that the police had clarified that the flag was not that of Pakistan.

• Uttara Kannada district’s Superintendent of Police Vishnuvardhana N told Vartha Bharati that no complaint was filed in this case as officers present on the spot had confirmed that it was not Pakistan’s flag.

• “It was a religious flag, and it was not a Pakistani flag. We have confirmed it, and we request the social media users not to share any misleading information that could create communal unrest,” he told the news organisation.

Conclusion: The flag seen in the viral video is not Pakistan’s national flag.

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