This is a mosque in Mangalore, not a “temple” taken over by Muslims in Kerala – Alt News

A video montage of a mosque is being widely shared on social media with a claim in Hindi that says Muslims have taken over an ancient Hindu temple in Kerala and converted it into a mosque. It also alleges that despite opposition from the Hindu community, the “left-communist” government of Kerala has decided not to take any action.

The claim suggests that the alleged temple was recently taken over by Muslims.

केरल में अति प्राचीन हिंदू मंदिर पर अवैद्य कब्ज़ा करके मुसलमानो ने बनाई मस्जिद। हिंदू समाज के विरोध के बावजूद केरल की वामपंथी कम्यूनिस्ट सरकार कोई भी कारवाई करने के लिए तैयार नहीं pic.twitter.com/1oCTL1oqL5

— योगी योगेश अग्रवाल (धर्मसेना) (@yogeshDharmSena) April 12, 2022

केरल में अति प्राचीन हिंदू मंदिर पर अवैद्य कब्ज़ा करके मुसलमानो ने बनाई मस्जिद। हिंदू समाज के विरोध के बावजूद केरल की वामपंथी कम्यूनिस्ट सरकार कोई भी कारवाई करने के लिए तैयार नहीं pic.twitter.com/nGlcdeHmBU

— Girdharilal Indoriya (@Ind1Girdharilal) April 13, 2022

Several users on Twitter have shared the video with the same caption.

केरल में अति प्राचीन हिंदू मंदिर पर अवैद्य कब्ज़ा करके मुसलमानो ने बनाई मस्जिद।
.
हिंदू समाज के विरोध के बावजूद केरल की वामपंथी कम्यूनिस्ट सरकार कोई भी कारवाई करने के लिए तैयार नहीं ॥ pic.twitter.com/VIt7svU9tC

— चंद्रशेखर (@cGalgalE2) April 11, 2022

केरल में अति प्राचीन हिंदू मंदिर पर अवैद्य कब्ज़ा करके मुसलमानो ने बनाई मस्जिद …

हिंदू समाज के विरोध के बावजूद केरल की वामपंथी कम्यूनिस्ट सरकार कोई भी कारवाई करने के लिए तैयार नहीं…!! ???? pic.twitter.com/8RnpUkbfj7

— ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? #प्रशासक_समिति (@Prem__Rathod143) April 10, 2022

The video is also viral on Facebook with the same claim.

False communal spin

We took a close look at the video and noticed that the video montage has documentary style edits. This was the first red flag. Then we noticed that within a few seconds a watermark appears on the video. It reads “TSOI” which later transitions into “Thousand Shades of India”. The name suggested that the video was most likely taken from a documentary.

Taking this clue, we checked the Instagram page of Thousand Shades of India (TSOI) and found the same video on their feed, uploaded on December 20, 2021. The caption on the post reads that the video is of the Zeenat Baksh Mosque in Mangalore’s Bunder, which houses one of India’s oldest Muslim communities.

As per the bio of Thousand Shades of India on YouTube, the page celebrates the diverse heritage of the nation. It reads, “We celebrate India’s diversity in life and livelihood, cultures and traditions, heritage and history, art and craft through our stories and documentaries!” It appears that the intention behind the video was to celebrate the beauty of the structure.

Zeenat Baksh Mosque in Mangalore

We performed a keyword search on Google and came across blogs and news reports about this mosque. One of these blogs was of the Karnataka Tourism Department. As per the blog by the Tourism Department, Masjid Zeenat Baksh is indeed located in Mangalore’s Bunder area. The mosque portrays the life stories of Prophet Mohamed and is believed to be established by Arab Muslim traders during 644 AD. The blog post also has a section that highlights special features of the mosque. The blog post doesn’t mention that the mosque used to be a Hindu Temple.

Multiple reports including the website of the Karnataka Tourism Department confirm that the mosque was renovated and renamed by Tipu Sultan in the 17th century.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Have Muslims taken over a temple in Kerala?

We checked for news reports but could not find any news of this nature. Had this been true, it would be widely reported by nearly every news outlet. There are also no news reports of a temple being taken over in Mangalore.

Hence, a video montage of a mosque in Mangalore was shared with a false communal spin that said Muslims have forcibly taken over an ancient temple in Kerala.

Related