Edited Clip Falsely Claims That Annamalai Criticised Savarkar Before Joining BJP

Annamalai was speaking at the launch of author Vikram Sampath's book on Savarkar in Chennai in 2021.

A video of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Tamil Nadu Chief, K Annamalai, allegedly criticising Veer Savarkar is making rounds on social media.

What does he say?: Annamalai said, "In Tamil Nadu, they call Veer Savarkar a British bootlicker. He licked the feet of the British is what people say." (translated from Tamil to English.)

This post recorded 22.6K views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here and here.)

Is this true?: No, this video is edited to make the false claim.

• In the longer version, Annamalai questioned whether calling Savarkar a "British Bootlicker" did justice to the man.

• He spoke at the launch of author Vikram Sampath's book, "Savarkar: A Contested Legacy" in Chennai in October 2021.

How did we find out?: At first, we ran a relevant keyword search on YouTube using the words in the viral clip.

• We came across a video by a channel named "Inside Tamil" from 2 October 2021.

• It was uploaded with the title, "Thiru. Annamalai l Press Meet l BJP l Savarkar Book Published l Inside Tamil"

• We translated the video from Tamil to English and tried identifying the portions in the viral video.

• Around 6:28 minutes of the full video, Annamalai said, "In Tamil Nadu, we talk about Savarkar during his birthday or his day of demise or when we speak on public platforms or to the media. There is an immediate attack that takes place, that he is an apologist. I don't want to use the word but in English they call him a 'British bootlicker'. Veer Savarkar licked the boots of the British. But does the comment actually do justice to the man?"

• The viral video has been edited to falsely claim that Annamalai called Savarkar a bootlicker of the British.

• The post also claims that Annamalai allegedly made this remark before joining the BJP.

• However, according to the party's website, Annamalai joined the party on 25 August 2020, while, the book launch took place a year later.

Conclusion: The viral clip has falsely claimed that Annamalai criticised Savarkar before joining BJP.

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