On Thursday, 26th December, a video went viral over the internet in which a few Hindus led by the ISKCON group could be seen performing Kirtan in the Hazratganj area of Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh. A few media houses and social media users who shared the video online claimed that the Hindus performed Kirtan outside a Cathedral Church while the celebrations for the festival of Christmas and New Year were underway inside the church.
However, it has come to the fore that the claim that Hindus performed kirtan outside the church is wrong and that they were not ‘disturbing’ the Christmas celebrations as the place where kirtan was being performed was a cafe 100-200m away from the Church.
The Hindus in the video could be seen dancing to the beats as they chanted ‘Hare Rama Hare Krishna’. Navbharat Times shared the video and claimed that Christmas celebrations were underway in the church in Lucknow when a Kirtan group from ISKCON reached there and started chanting ‘Hare Ram-Hare Krishna’.
चर्च में चल रहा था क्रिसमस सेलिब्रेशन, बाहर शुरू हो गया'हरे राम-हरे कृष्णा' का कीर्तन
— NBT Hindi News (@NavbharatTimes) December 26, 2024
लखनऊ में एक चर्च में क्रिसमस सेलिब्रेशन चल रहा था तभी वहां इस्कॉन की कीर्तन मंडली पहुंच गई और 'हरे राम-हरे कृष्णा' का कीर्तन करने लगी. वीडियो वायरल.#christmas2024 #lucknow #isckon pic.twitter.com/2o3efBSvrF
“This video is supposedly from Lucknow and is quite embarrassing to see. A mob of Hindus gathered close to Hazrat Ganj cathedral to disrupt the Christmas festivities by singing loudly and creating a disturbance. This insecure display of faith is fraught with an inferiority complex. This is too cheap and uncivil even to watch,” one social media user Darab Farooqi said.
This video is supposedly from Lucknow and is quite embarrassing to see.
— Darab Farooqui (@darab_farooqui) December 26, 2024
A mob of Hindus gathered close to Hazrat ganj cathedral to disrupt the Christmas festivities by singing loudly and creating a disturbance.
This insecure display of faith is fraught with inferiority… pic.twitter.com/wdtVkISHp7
TRT World Media House shared a similar claim saying that the Hindus were deliberately performing Kirtan to disrupt the celebrations at St Josephs 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.
A group of Hindus chanted "Hare Ram, Hare Krishna" (Hail Lord Ram, Hail Lord Krishna) near St Josephs Cathedral in Hazratganj, Lucknow, India, on December 25, to disrupt Christmas celebrations pic.twitter.com/sEiIMkjTsX
— TRT World (@trtworld) December 26, 2024
Another social media user identified as Siddharth said, “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.”
Nothing much, just a mob of Hindus disrupting the Christmas festivities in front of a cathedral.
— Siddharth (@DearthOfSid) December 26, 2024
Inferiority complex is at the root of Hindu nationalist movement in India.
pic.twitter.com/JdHcEudxz0
Even Congress spread disinformation claiming that Hindus were deliberately 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.
लखनऊ को इस हरकत ने शर्मिंदा कर दिया । क्रिसमस में क्रिसमस मनाने वालों के बीच पहुँचकर यह सब करना हमारी सनातन परंपरा के भी विरुद्ध है ।
— Surendra Rajput (@ssrajputINC) December 25, 2024
हमें हमारी प्रार्थना,भजन और श्रद्धा को दूसरे को नीचा दिखाने में नही उपयोग करना चाहिए,यह ग़लत है ।
अपने त्यौहारों पर नॉनवेज की दुकानें बंद करवाने… pic.twitter.com/6eRkybyV5j
Ameeque Jamei associated with the Samajwadi party said, “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!”
लखनऊ जहा एक हिन्दू गुरुमा पंडिताइन ने “पंडिताइन की मस्जिद” तमीर कराई और मुस्लिम नवाब ने “अलीगंज मंदिर” बनवाई आज का लखनऊ अलग है
— Ameeque Jamei अमीक़ जामेई (@ameeque_Jamei) December 25, 2024
मस्जिद पर भगवा फहराने से थोड़ा फ्री हुए तो
क्रिसमस का माहौल देख अमृतकाल वाला हिन्दू धर्म पुरातन संस्कृति खतरे मे पड़ गई, यह लखनऊ भारत नहीं है! https://t.co/NeAF2MilCK
However, it has come to the fore that the Islamists and the left-leaning users had been spreading misinformation against the Hindu community as the place where kirtan was being performed by the Hindus was a cafe that was 100m away from the church.
UP Tak reporter Ashish Shrivastava examined the ground reality and confirmed that a few media houses and social media users were deliberately spreading misinformation against Hindus accusing them of disrupting Christmas celebrations.
He said that the Hindus led by ISKCON had gathered at a cafe named ‘Royal Cafe’ in Hazratganj and were performing kirtan there and not outside the church as erroneously being claimed by several groups. Shrivastava also spoke to the security guard of the cafe premises who confirmed that the Hindus had been dancing on the kirtan beats in the premises of the cafe and not outside the Cathedral Church.
Further, if the video is keenly looked upon, a building can seen covered in colored lights which the social media users are allegedly claiming to be the Cathedral Church. However, the said building has been identified as the office of the “Divisional Railway Manager.”

Also, TV9 group’s Padmaja Joshi raised her voice against misinformation spread against Hindus saying that the building which was claimed to be Cathedral Church was not a Church but some other building. “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 asked why such fake news and misinformation were being spread against the Hindus. She further suggested ISKCON group address the issue and clarify that the intention of the kirtan was in no way to disturb the Christmas celebrations and that the Kirtan was performed far away from the church.
May I add that the effort taken to spread this disinformation is quite staggering.
— Padmaja Joshi (@PadmajaJoshi) December 26, 2024
Anyone from Lucknow would know that keertan is in front of Royal Cafe and at a large distance from Cathedral. Nowhere in front of it @iskcon Lucknow, a simple clarification from the spot would… https://t.co/KLvLoQsezA
With this, it is clearly evident that the claims spread by Islamists, Congress, and SP leaders are misleading and the kirtan by Hindus was performed at a distance 100-200m away from the church. The incident happened on 25th December and the misleading claims began to circulate on social media on 26th December.