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Australian Muslim Cleric Misidentified as UAE Prince Talking About Kashmir

This video shows Mohammad Tawhidi, an Iranian-born Australian Muslim cleric, also known as the Imam of Peace.

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A video is going viral on social media to claim that it shows the Crown Prince of United Arab Emirates (UAE) calling Kashmir, a "Hindi land".

The person says, "My position on the Kashmir issue is very clear, I'm not a politician, I only care about history and religion. I know that Islam came to India much later than Hinduism, which had already existed. Pakistan claimed independence way after all this happened, 70 years ago. So I don't see Pakistan as a suitable negotiator regarding Kashmir. I don't think they have the right to speak. I believe it's Hindu land. My position is Kashmir is Hindu land, and I say this in front of everyone."

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The video does not show the Crown Prince of UAE.

  • It actually shows Mohammad Tawhidi, an Iranian-born Australian Muslim cleric, who is also known as the Imam of Peace.

  • It shows the Imam speaking at ‘Arth – A Culture Fest’, held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA) in Delhi in February 2019.

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How did we find out the truth?: We noticed a logo in the viral video which read ‘Arth – A Culture Fest’.

  • We also conducted a reverse image search of some of the keyframes of the video on Google, which led us to the same video shared on Facebook on 9 August 2019.

  • The caption read, “Imam of Peace Mohamad Tawhidi On Kashmir.”

  • Taking a cue, we performed a relevant keyword search on Google using 'Imam of peace, Arth A culture fest'.

  • This led us to the original video on YouTube shared by the fest on 13 February 2019.

  • The description stated that it shows Australian Muslim Scholar, Imam Tawhidi in a conversation with Rajiv Malhotra and Vishwa Adluri at the fest which was held at Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA), Delhi.

  • The viral video starts at 55:04 timestamp.

  • He further adds, "I believe it's (Kashmir) Hindu land, that's very controversial, many will say no, they have the right to their opinion. My position is Kashmir is Hindu land, and I say this in front of everyone. I'm not just saying this because I'm in India, this has been my opinion for five years, even when I was an extremist this was my opinion, So nobody can say that I'm being paid by Modi."

Who is the crown prince?: Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the President of the UAE.

  • Whereas his son, Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the crown prince of Abu Dhabi.

Conclusion: A video showing Mohammad Tawhidi, an Iranian-born Australian Muslim cleric, saying that Kashmir is a "Hindu land" is being misidentified as the Crown Prince of UAE.

(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)

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