CLAIM
A video in which Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan is seen giving a fiery campaign speech is going viral, with the claim that in his speech, he said, “We will become Sharia.”
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra shared the video with some lines, purported extracted from the Okhla MLA’s speech.
“अल्लाह ने तय कर दिया है की इन ज़ालिमों का ख़ात्मा होगा ... हम शरिया बनेंगे ... कहीं न कहीं से शुरुआत तो होती ही है,” Patra wrote, as a quote from Khan’s speech.
(Translation: Allah has decided that there will be an end to these oppressors... We will become Sharia... There has to be some beginning.)
Patra then went on to point a finger at AAP, saying that this is the belief of the party.
“Do you want to become Sharia or not,” Patra said, concluding his tweet.
An archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
Patra’s tweet had over 90K views at the time of writing this piece.
Author and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri also shared the same clip, of Khan’s speech, calling it a “natural speech” and also quoted the Okhla MLA as saying that ‘we will become Sharia.’
An archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
Many others on Twitter also shared the same video with similar claims.
The video was also viral on Facebook with the same claim.
Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also shared the same video, claiming that it showed Khan inciting people and fanning the flames of communalism.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The claim with which this video is being shared is completely false. While Khan certainly gave the speech, one can listen to the video and clearly hear Khan saying ‘zariya’ (which means a way or a process) and not ‘sharia’. Khan actually said “Hum zariya banenge” and not “hum shariya banenge”.
WHAT WE FOUND
The Quint noticed a watermark on the video which said ‘Breaking News Express’. On searching for the video on YouTube with the keywords ‘Breaking News Express Amanatullah Khan’, we came across the original video, uploaded by the channel on 3 February.
This version was clearer and had a longer version of Khan’s speech:
On listening to this video as well, it is clear that this is an election campaign speech, in which Khan is asking for votes from the people.
He goes on to say that Allah has decided who will emerge victorious, who will be insulted and who will take the honours.
He also said that Allah has decided that there will be an end to these ‘oppressors’ and that the wrongs that they have done will be finished and that the people of Okhla and Jamia will be the facilitators of this.
“Hum zariya banenge,” he said, talking about how the people of Okhla and Jamia will bring about an end to the oppressors who have wronged people, in the context of CAA and NRC.
Khan never mentions the word ‘Sharia’, but said ‘zariya’, meaning medium, or in this context, facilitators of the fall of the oppressors.
Therefore, the video is clearly being shared with a false claim and Khan has not made any communal remarks or said that people will come under Sharia.
The video is being shared ahead of the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. Delhi goes to the polls on 8 February.
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