CLAIM
A video of a group of people sloganeering in support of BJP has gone viral, with the claim that it is from Balochistan, Pakistan.
It was shared by a user on Twitter.
The viral video was also shared by many on Facebook.
The Quint also received a query about the origins of the same video via WhatsApp.
All these videos had similar claims which stated that the video was from “Balochistan” and showed “a group of people backing BJP”.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The video is not from Balochistan. The claims in the video are false as it was shot in Kashmir’s Anantnag.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
The video begins with the women joining in for a celebratory chant. On listening closely, the group can be heard saying: “सोफी साहब कदम बढ़ाओ, हम तुम्हारे साथ हैं; नरेंद्र भाई कदम बढ़ाओ, हम तुम्हारे साथ हैं”
(Translated: Sofi Sir step forward, we are with you; Narendra Bhai step forward, we are with you)
Taking cue from the name “Sofi” and the word “BJP”, The Quint ran a search with the two keywords.
The results show that the people in the video were sloganeering for Mr Sofi Yousuf, the state vice president of BJP for Jammu and Kashmir, who is also the party’s Lok Sabha candidate from Anatnag in Kashmir. His twitter handle is @sofi_yousuf.
He can also be seen in the video, although not very clearly.
The next step was to ascertain the location where the video was shot. The Quint searched with the keywords: “Sofi”, “Kashmir” and “BJP”.
The search led us to a video put up by Fast Kashmir where it was clearly stated that the video was of BJP Candidate Sofi Yousuf filing for nomination in South Kashmir's Anantnag.
This was reported by photojournalist Muneeb Ul Islam.
On further searching for details of his nomination, The Quint found a Daily Excelsior news package on it.
Sofi Yousuf filed his nomination on 30 March 2019.
Thus, the claim that the video is of people sloganeering in support of BJP in Balochistan is completely false.
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