On Thursday, December 26th, a video went viral showing a group of Hindus, led by the ISKCON community, performing a Kirtan in the Hazratganj area of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Some media outlets and social media users who shared the video initially claimed that the Kirtan was held outside a Cathedral Church while Christmas and New Year celebrations were taking place inside.
However, it has since been clarified that this claim was incorrect. The Kirtan was not performed outside the church, nor was it disrupting any Christmas celebrations. In reality, the Kirtan took place at a café located approximately 100-200 meters away from the church.
The video shows the group dancing and chanting ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. Navbharat Times also shared the footage, suggesting that the ISKCON Kirtan group arrived at the church during the Christmas celebrations and began chanting, though the location and context were misrepresented.
TRT World Media House made a similar assertion, stating that Hindus were intentionally conducting Kirtan to disturb the celebrations at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Hazratganj. “A group of Hindus chanted “Hare Ram, Hare Krishna” (Hail Lord Ram, Hail Lord Krishna) near St Joseph Cathedral in Hazratganj, Lucknow, India, on December 25, to disrupt Christmas celebrations,” it said sharing the video.
Another social media user, named Siddharth, stated, “Nothing much, just a mob of Hindus disrupting the Christmas festivities in front of a cathedral. Inferiority complex is at the root of Hindu nationalist movement in India.”
Even Congress propagated false information, alleging that Hindus were intentionally disrupting the Christian celebrations in Lucknow. “This act has brought shame to Lucknow. Reaching among the people celebrating Christmas and doing all this is against our eternal tradition. We should not use our prayers, worship, and devotion to belittle others, this is wrong. If those who close down non-veg shops during their festivals behave like this at other people’s festivals, then one would pity them for what they want to cook. This is not our Lucknow. Our Lucknow is a city that respects everyone equally. This is wrong,” said Surendra Rajput associated with the Congress.
Ameeque Jamei, who is affiliated with the Samajwadi Party, stated, “Lucknow where a Hindu Guruma Panditain built “Panditain ki Masjid” and a Muslim Nawab built “Aliganj Temple”, is different now. If you get a little free from hoisting saffron on the mosque and seeing the Christmas atmosphere, the ancient Hindu culture of the Amritkal period is in danger, this Lucknow is not India!”
It has recently come to light that Islamist and left-leaning individuals were spreading misinformation about the Hindu community, falsely claiming that the kirtan performed by Hindus took place outside a church. In reality, the event occurred at a café just 100 meters away from the church.
UP Tak reporter Ashish Shrivastava investigated the situation and confirmed that some media outlets and social media users were deliberately misrepresenting the facts, accusing Hindus of disturbing Christmas celebrations.
Shrivastava clarified that the Hindus, led by ISKCON, had gathered at a café named ‘Royal Café’ in Hazratganj to perform kirtan, not outside the church, as some groups had wrongly claimed. He also spoke with the café's security guard, who verified that the kirtan took place inside the café, not outside the Cathedral Church.
Additionally, upon closer inspection of the video, a building covered in colored lights is visible, which some social media users have incorrectly identified as the Cathedral Church. However, this building was actually the office of the “Divisional Railway Manager.”
TV9 group's Padmaja Joshi also spoke out against the misinformation being spread about Hindus, stating that the building falsely claimed to be the Cathedral Church was, in fact, not a church but a different structure. “Visuals from there have been spliced with the Kirtan video. At the 0:30 mark in the unedited video camera moves and you can see there’s no church in front of the cafe where Kirtan is being performed. The place is quite far from the church. I know, I have lived here for over a decade,” she said.
She also inquired why such fake news and misinformation were being spread about Hindus. Additionally, she recommended that the ISKCON group address the matter and clarify that the intention behind the kirtan was never to disrupt the Christmas celebrations, and that the kirtan was held at a location far from the church.
This clearly shows that the claims made by Islamist groups, Congress, and SP leaders are false. The Hindu kirtan was held 100-200 meters away from the church. The incident occurred on December 25th, and the misleading claims started spreading on social media on December 26th.
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