Old Video of PM Modi's Speech in Varanasi Falsely Linked to Gyanvapi Mosque Case

Modi gave this speech in Varanasi in 2017 where he spoke about conditions of roads in Uttar Pradesh.

Fact-check: The claim states that PM Modi is encouraging digging up the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Amid the ongoing Gyanvapi Mosque land dispute case, a short 29-second clip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a crowd is being shared on social media.

In the video, Modi can be heard saying, "Yaha bhi khuda, vaha bhi khuda, jaha aaj nahi khuda, vaha kal khudega." (It's dug here, it's dug there and where it's not dug, it will be dug tomorrow.)

Several users shared the video to insinuate that the prime minister spoke about "digging of religious places".

But this video, which is from 2017, shows Modi at an election rally in Varanasi where he made the statement taking a dig at former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and referring to the condition of the roads in UP. This was ahead of the elections in the state.

CLAIM

The video is being shared with a caption that says, "यहां भी खुदा, वहां भी खुदा, जहां आज नहीं खुदा वहां कल खुदेगा"

[Translation: It's dug here, it's dug there, where it's not dug, it'll get dug tomorrow.]

The video was also shared by Suresh Chavhanke, editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News.

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Archives of similar posts on social media can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

Using InVID, a video verification tool, we divided the video into multiple keyframes and ran reverse image searches on some of them.

We came across a video uploaded by Narendra Modi's verified YouTube channel on 5 March 2017.

The video titled 'PM Modi addresses public rally in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh' carried the viral clip from 11.50 timestamp.

Modi was taking a dig at Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, while referring to the conditions of the roads.

The PM said, "MPs meet me and tell me that I don't know about Uttar Pradesh. I said, tell me. Then they say 'Our Uttar Pradesh is such that it's dug up here, it's dug up there. And where it isn't dug, it will get dug up tomorrow.' Now, who has made this condition?"

Modi also makes a remark that after the Centre provided cables to Uttar Pradesh to resolve the issue of hanging electric wires, the roads were left dugged up by the state even after the work was completed.

A longer version of Modi's speech from 5 March 2017 was uploaded by the official YouTube page of BJP.

Evidently, PM Modi was not encouraging the digging up of Gyanvapi mosque as alleged in the claim. He was speaking about the dug-up roads in Varanasi in 2017.

(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 [e-mail] and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)