Communal violence broke out in Nepal’s Sunsari district on 27 July 2026 after clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups during separate religious events. The confrontation reportedly began over disputes involving loud music and the display of religious flags, escalating into stone-pelting, arson, and attacks on property. The unrest later spread to several areas of Madhesh Province, prompting authorities to impose curfews, deploy additional security personnel, and appeal for calm. Several people, including security personnel, were injured in the violence, while investigations were launched to identify those responsible (here, here, and here).

In this context, a video is being shared on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that it shows protesters climbing a mosque’s minaret amid rising smoke, removing an existing flag, and hoisting a saffron (Bhagwa) flag in its place. Let’s verify the claim made in the post in this article.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: The video shows protesters climbing a mosque’s minaret and hoisting a saffron (Bhagwa) flag amid 2026 unrest in Nepal.

Fact: The video does not show protesters climbing a mosque minaret and hoisting a saffron (Bhagwa) flag during the 2026 unrest in Nepal. It is an old video from February 2020 showing the vandalisation of the Badi Mosque in Delhi’s Ashok Nagar during the CAA-related communal violence. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.

A reverse image search of key frames from the viral video led us to multiple media reports (here, here, and here) published in February 2020 featuring the same visuals. According to these reports, the video shows the vandalisation of the Badi Mosque in Delhi’s Ashok Nagar during the communal violence linked to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The mosque was set on fire, and a mob climbed its minaret, removed the existing flag, and hoisted the Indian national flag along with a saffron Hanuman flag. The visuals in these reports match the viral video, confirming that it is an old video from Delhi in February 2020 and not related to the 2026 unrest in Nepal.

We also found multiple other media reports covering the same incident, which can be seen here, here, and here.

The 2020 Delhi riots took place from 23 to 27 February in North-East Delhi amid clashes over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). The violence claimed 53 lives and caused widespread damage to homes, businesses, and places of worship (here, here).

To sum up, an old, unrelated video from Delhi is falsely shared, linking it to the 2026 unrest in Nepal.