BJP MP Alters Hymn to Remove Reference to 'Allah'? No, the Video is Clipped

Hans Raj Hans can be heard singing 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' in the longer version of the viral video.

A video of Lok Sabha MP and sufi singer Hans Raj Hans singing 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' hymn on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti is being shared to claim that the line 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' (God and Allah are all your names) has been "removed" from it.

However, we found that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader can be heard singing the aforementioned line in the longer version of the video.

CLAIM

The claim shared along with the 01:24 minute-long video reads: "Finally 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' is removed and replaced by 'Jai Shree Ram, Sita Ram' in Raghupati Raghav rajaram, Dhanyawad @narendramodi ji. (sic)"

Several social media users shared the video on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim and the archived version of the posts can be viewed here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

While scanning through Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans' Twitter handle, we found that he had tweeted a video on 3 October in which he can be seen wearing the same attire as in the viral one.

The tweet mentioned that the visuals are from a programme held on Gandhi Jayanti.

Since the viral video carried news agency ANI's logo, we ran a Twitter advanced search in the date range 2 October - 3 October, and found that it had tweeted the viral visuals, crediting them to DD News.

#WATCH | PM Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu attend 'Sarv Dharm Prarthana' at Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi on the occasion of #GandhiJayanti

(Source: DD News) pic.twitter.com/SQww4oEBnq

— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2021

On 2 October, DD News had uploaded a nearly 24 minute-long video of the 'Sarv Dharm Prarthana' held on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and the viral portion can be heard from 15:48 minutes onwards.

At 17:15 minutes, Hans Raj Hans can be heard singing the verse which mentions, "Ishwar Allah tero naam, sabko sanmati de bhagwaan".

As per an article published by Firstpost, Mahatma Gandhi had modified the hymn to add the line: 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' with a "view to spreading the message of reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims."

While Gandhi's narration of the hymn, as per Gandhi Sevagram Ashram, does not include the line: 'Jai Shri Ram, Jai Shri Ram', the Lok Sabha MP can be heard singing it at 16:28 minutes.

Evidently, a clipped video was used to falsely claim that 'Ishwar Allah tero naam' has been "removed" from the 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' hymn.

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