Fact-Check: Old Video of Paresh Rawal Apologising to People Passed Off as Recent

This video dates back to 2017 and relates to Paresh Rawal's controversial remark about Rajputs.

Fact-check: This is an old video of Paresh Rawal apologising.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video of Bollywood actor and former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Paresh Rawal apologising to people on the street is going viral on social media.

What does the claim say?: The claim states that Rawal is being forced to stop campaigning for the BJP in Gujarat after people showed their outrage against inflation and unemployment.

• The claim comes after he recently made controversial remarks against the Bengalis.

• The official Twitter handle of Manipur Congress Sevadal also mocked Rawal by commenting on the viral video.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

What was the controversy about?: In his speech at Valsad, Rawal said, "Gas cylinders are expensive, but their price will come down. People will get employment too. But what will happen if Rohingya migrants and Bangladeshis start living around you, like in Delhi? What will you do with gas cylinders? Cook fish for the Bengalis?" 

What's the truth?: This video shows Rawal apologising for his comments against the Rajputs in 2017.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search and found out that this video has been on the internet since November 2017.

• We found a YouTube video from 30 November 2017 which carried a longer version of the same video.

• The video is titled in Hindi, "Paresh Rawal apologising to Rajput community."

• In this video, people can be heard asking Rawal to apologise to the Rajput community for his derogatory statement.

• The video is from Gujarat while he was campaigning during 2017 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections.

Reports about the incident: We also found several reports from 2017 which stated that Rawal issued an apology to the Rajput community after making derogatory statements about them.

• A report posted by English newspaper The Times of India on 27 November 2017 mentioned that the ring-wing group Karni Sena had warned Paresh Rawal over his statement against the Rajputs following the release of the movie Padmaavat, after which he apologised.

• He later apologised and said that his statement was not targeted at the Rajput community but instead aimed at the "Nizam of Hyderabad."

• We found another tweet of the news agency Asian News International  (ANI) from 27 November 2017.

• It mentioned his apology for the Rajputs and carried a photo of Rawal in which his outfit matches the one seen in the viral video.

Did Rawal apologise for the 'Bengali' remark?: Rawal took to Twitter to apologise for his statements following a huge backlash from the Bengali community.

• Several news outlets like The Times of India and Business Today have reported about Rawal issuing an apology.

Conclusion: This claim is misleading, and it shows Rawal apologising publicly in 2017 after his remarks against the Rajputs.

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