CLAIM
A video clip has been going viral on Facebook over the last couple of days, claiming to show the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath sitting near the body of a martyr and crying. The caption of the video clip says: “शहीद के शव के पास बेठ कर बिलक बिलक कर रोते हुए😢 देखो योगी आदित्य नाथ को 👇🏼👇🏼😡😡👇🏼👇🏼”. (Translation: Yogi Adityanath sits near the dead body of a martyr and cries bitterly.)
The Facebook video has been shared by numerous users and pages.
However, in the video, Adityanath, while sitting in front of a coffin wrapped in the tricolour, can actually be seen laughing along with the other men around him.
The same 16-second clip was also shared by a Facebook page called ‘Rahul Gandhi for PM’, among others, with a different caption, saying: ‘तिरंगे मे लिपटे शहीद जवान को श्रद्धांजलि देते ढोंगी राष्ट्र भक्त’. (Translation: Fake worshippers of India pay tribute to a martyred jawan wrapped in the tricolour.)
The video was shared by multiple pages using this caption as well.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Going through the comments on the video clips, it is possible to see that some people have been calling it out as a fake video, while some said that it was edited and put out of context. Taking a cue from one of the comments on a video which said that the video was from a condolence meet for Tiwari, we ran a search for the keywords ‘Yogi Adityanath at Tiwari condolence meet’. This immediately threw up the reality of the video.
The video is from 21 October 2018, when Adityanath attended the condolence meet of former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari. In the clip, Adityanath is flanked by the Governor of Bihar Lalji Tandon and ministers of UP, Mohsin Raza and Ashutosh Tandon. The body that lies in front of them is that of ND Tiwari and not a soldier.
As news reports show, Adityanath had been caught on camera laughing heartily at this meet and the video had gone viral. It has now resurfaced with users giving it a different context. Quint Hindi had also done a report on this incident.
The link below also shows the original context from October 2018.
Therefore, the video does not show Adityanath laughing near the body of a martyred soldier. After Pulwama, it has been taken out of context to claim that he is laughing at a CRPF jawan’s funeral.
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