Fake: Indians did not throw idols of Gods for failure to protect against COVID-19

New Delhi, May 24: A news report claiming that Indians are throwing idols of Gods on the streets due to the COVID-19 pandemic has gone viral. The news website says that the idols are being thrown because the people are losing faith in God.

The title of the story reads, "Indians throw thousands of idols on the street for not protecting them against the virus."

The Indians expressed their anger at the idols that they worshiped and sacrificed themselves for, but the idols did not protect them from the Coronavirus.

They prayed to the idols because they believed that it could save them from the virus, but they finally discovered that they could not do anything and hence they destroyed it, the site Shia Waves reported.

This news is false and the videos that were put out by the website is from 2019 and 2015. In 2019 it was decided to keep the Sabarmati river clean by not immersing Dashama idols into the river. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation had requested that the idols be left on the banks to prevent pollution. The Hindu had covered this story with the headline, "No idols thrown at Sabarmati river front."

IAS officer Vijay Nehra in a tweet said," something amazing is happening in Ahmedabad today. Ordinary citizens have decided to keep Sabarmati clean. Instead of immersing Dashama idols in the river, they have respectfully left them on the banks!!Thousands and Thousands of them. Unbelievable change."

The second half of the video is from the year 2015. The video was shot when the idols were being taken to the Krishna river in Telangana as part of the immersion ceremony. While the news site has deleted the video, the claim that the idols were thrown by Indians as the Gods could not protect from COVID-19 is fake.