Cong MLA Didn’t Chant ‘Pak Zindabad’; Old Doctored Clip Resurfaces
The video is from 2016. Khan was referring to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s comment and wasn’t raising pro-Pak slogans.
advertisement
CLAIM
Ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra, a video of Congress MLA Naseem Khan raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan has been doing the rounds on the internet.
In the video, Khan can be heard saying, “Pakistan Zindabad... If Modiji and Rajnath Singh are capable then they should take action”.
The 20-second long video has been shared on Facebook and Twitter by multiple users urging people to unseat Khan.
The video has also been shared on Twitter by multiple users.
WHAT’S THE TRUTH?
Firstly, the video is from 2016. Secondly, Khan didn’t raise “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans. He was referring to the comment (“Pakistan Zindabad”) made by Art of Living Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during the three-day World Cultural Festival at the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi.
The video has been edited to suggest that Khan raised pro-Pakistan slogans and dared PM Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to take action against him.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We tried looking for Khan’s speech on the official YouTube channel of Mushaira Media, which could be seen on the top right corner of the video. However, we couldn’t find any clipping related to the same video clip online.
The Quint then contacted the channel to know if Khan had indeed given any such speech and if a video of that was available on their channel. We were informed that the video had now being taken down due to ‘lewd comments’ but the journalist confirmed to us that the speech was given by Khan in March, 2016 during a mushaira. (a social gathering where typically poetry is read.)
We also accessed a clip of Khan’s speech through the journalist in which we could hear him say, “Aaj Yamuna ke kinare Delhi main, Sri Sri ravi Shankar ne Pakistan Zindabad ka nara lagaya vo Rajnath Singh ke mojudgi main, unke upar desh droh ka mukadma chalega ya nahi (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar raised pro-Pakistan slogans in the presence of Rajnath Singh in Delhi today. Will he be charged for this or not?)
Khan was referring to the comment made by the founder of Art of Living Founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar during his three-day cultural confab at the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi.
NASEEM KHAN LODGES COMPLAINT
Naseem Khan has also registered a complaint against a Facebook account for allegedly uploading his doctored video.
Khan approached Sakinaka police station with a complaint that a video uploaded on a Facebook page falsely showed him chanting 'Pakistan Zindabad' during a speech, an official told news agency PTI.
“Our probe has found that the video was doctored and was uploaded by a Facebook account holder named Venkat Goddul. We have registered a case under section 125 of Representation of the People Act 1951 and section 171g (false statement in connection with an election) of the IPC,” he said.
He said Goddul tampered with an old video of Khan to malign his image and circulated it on social media, following which the latter approached poll authorities.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on Whatsapp at 9643651818, or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)