No, This Video Does Not Show Soldiers Celebrating Ganpati At Galwan Valley

A video from 2019 of Indian Army personnel celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi at Shingo river valley near Kargil is being shared with a false claims that the Indian Army celebrated the festival at Galwan valley post the skirmish between India and China.

The video is being shared with false claims that it shows the Indian Army conducting immersion rituals (visarjan) of a Ganesha idol at Galwan valley in Ladakh. Galwan valley was the hotbed of skirmishes between India and China. On June 15, 2020, nearly 20 Indian Army soldiers including a Commanding officer were killed in what is considered one of the worst border escalations between the two neighbours. China's People's Liberation Army is also said to have suffered losses, but Beijing has to date remained mum on the number of casualties.

The clashes at Galwan valley saw a series of fake videos and images doing the rounds on social. BOOM has debunked several of them which can be read here and here and here.

The viral video comes when parts of the country are celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi and is viral with the caption, "Ganpati Bappa in Galwan Valley Ladhak..Jai Hind". The video shows army soldiers dancing to the beats of traditional drums also called 'dhol tasha' in Maharashtra, a common feature in Ganesh chaturthi processions in the state.

Some posts also revived the video as recent

FACT CHECK

BOOM found that the video is from 2019 when a Maratha Light Infantry regiment celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi festival at the Shingo River Valley near Kargil and not at Galwan valley as is being claimed by social media posts.

A reverse image search for a keyframe from the video showed results on YouTube from September 2019. The videos on YouTube had similar captions, 'Ganesh pooja procession of INDIAN ARMY at SHINGO RIVER VALLEY

A further search on Facebook using the keywords 'Ganpati Army Shingo River' showed results dating back to September 2019 with posts saying the video shows soldiers from the Maratha Light Infantry regiment celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi.

The caption from the September upload on Facebook read, "Indian Army Personnel perform Ganpati Visarjan with enthusiasm in Kargil, Ladakh'

According to news reports, Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated on September 2 in 2019 with the immersion ritual conducted on September 12, 2019. The YouTube and Facebook uploads for the video are from September 18, 2019 -- the same week as the immersion ritual dates.

We also noticed that a banner behind the army personnel says Shingo River Valley. A search for the same showed that the Shingo river valley is near Kargil and nearly 229 kilometres away from Galwan valley. The shingo river is a tributary of the Indus river and flows through Gilgit in Pakistan and Kargil in India while the Galwan river which flows from the disputed Aksai Chin area to enter the Line of Actual Control and the Ladakh region in India.