Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi chants the Shiv Tandav Strotram during a public gathering in an attempt to woo voters ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
We received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), too, requesting us to fact-check it.
The Congress reportedly appears to be veering towards a first-time woman candidate to take on Owaisi from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat, which he has been winning since 2004. The BJP had earlier announced K Madhavi Latha, the chairperson of Virinchi Hospitals in the city, as its candidate.
Fact
Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Asaduddin Owaisi Hindu prayer”, which did not throw up any credible news reports of such an incident.
Newschecker noticed that the lip movements of Owaisi did not completely match the audio, while also seeming to be unnatural, raising our doubts.
We then ran a reverse image search of keyframes of the video, which led us to this Youtube video, uploaded by AIMIM on October 26, 2022, featuring Owaisi addressing a public gathering against a backdrop similar to the one in the viral video. The viral excerpt can be seen from the 09:36 mark
A comparison of a couple of screengrabs from both the viral (left) and original videos (right) shows that it was digitally altered, considering the audio is completely different. In the original video, Owaisi was taking aim at the BJP over beef exports. He does not chant any Hindu prayer or hymn at any point in the address.
A further search led us to this Youtube video, dated April 20, 2020, where you can clearly hear that the Shiv Tandav Strotram heard in the viral clip was taken from this video.
We then ran the video past Deepware, a community-driven open-source Deepfake detection tool, which said it was “suspicious”, thus confirming that the viral video was edited.
Also Read: Iran Launches Attack On Israel? Video Viral With False Claims
Result: Altered Media
Sources
Youtube video, AIMIM, October 26, 2022
Youtube video, Deep Trivedi Official, April 20, 2020
Deepware tool
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
