Rahul Didn’t Say Mahatma Picked up Non-Violence From Islam Alone

The video has been edited to make it appear as though he had said Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by Islam.

(Note: The story was first published on 14 January 2019 and has been republished in light of the same claim resurfacing on social media, ahead of the Assembly elections in West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Kerala.)

A video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing the Indian diaspora in Dubai has been revived on social media with the claim that he said, Mahatma Gandhi picked up the concept of non-violence from Islam.

In the video, Gandhi can be heard saying, “Mahatma Gandhiji picked up the idea of non-violence from our great religions, from our great teachers. Mahatma Gandhiji picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam.”

However, a full version of his speech shows that the viral clip has been cut short to edit out the part where he goes on to refer to multiple religions and not just Islam.

CLAIM

The video was shared by several social media users with the caption, “Mahatma Gandhi picked up non-violence from ISLAM - Rahul Gandhi (sic).”

The video had also been shared in January 2019 on Facebook by Modi Nama, Youth4BJP, We Support PM, and other similar pages.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

The video has been edited out of context to make it appear as though he had said Mahatma Gandhi was inspired by Islam. However, the truth is quite different.

Addressing the Indian diaspora at a cricket stadium in Dubai, Gandhi was making a comment on the rising intolerance in India, by taking a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi's book.

In a video of the entire address shared by the Indian National Congress on their YouTube channel, one can hear Gandhi say the same words as seen in the viral video at 24:24 minutes.

Gandhi is heard saying "Mahatma Gandhiji picked up the idea of non-violence from our great religions, from our great teachers. Mahatma Gandhiji picked up the idea of non-violence from ancient Indian philosophy, from Islam, from Chrisitanity, from Judaisim, from great religion where it is clearly written that violence will not help anyone achieve anything."

Clearly, miscreants have edited out the last bit of Gandhi's statement to make it appear as though he was crediting the idea of non-violence to Islam.

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