False Claims About PM Modi Using Profanities During a Speech in Gujarat Viral

Video shows PM Modi talking about availability of water in Gujarati.

Fact-check: A false claim about PM Modi using an inappropriate word during his speech has gone viral on social media.

(Photo: The Quint)

A video showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivering a speech in Gujarati is going viral to claim that he used profanities in his speech.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The video shows PM Modi speaking in Gujarati about water and its availability; nowhere in the speech does he use any abusive or inappropriate language.

How did we find out the truth?: We noticed that the viral video is a screen record of a YouTube video shared by The Quint on its YouTube channel.

• Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search on Google using, "PM Modi Addresses a Rally in Patan, Gujarat Quint" and this led us to the video shared on 21 April 2019.

We found the viral part at the 43:16 timestamp and slowed down the video to understand what PM Modi was saying.

• We also took help of some Gujarati language speakers who clarified this for us:

• He says, "Loko em keh chhe bhavish ma ladao pani ni thavani chhe. Alya bhai badha ko chho pani ni ladai thavani chhe to pachhi ame atyare thi pani pela paar kem na bandhiye.”

• [Original, "લોકો એમ કહે છે ભાવિશ માં લડાઈ પાની ની થવા ની છે. બાધા કો છો પાની ની લડાઈ થવાની છે તો પછી અમે અત્યારે થી પાની પેલા પાર કેમ ના બાંધીએ"]

• [Translation: People say that in the future, we will be fight wars over water. If everyone says there will be water wars then why shouldn’t we build dams from now?]

The word 'thavani che' which roughly translate to ‘may happen/will happen’ has been misinterpreted as an inappropriate word.

The same video was also shared by Modi on his official YouTube channel.

Conclusion: A false claim about PM Modi using an inappropriate word during his speech has gone viral on social media.

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