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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Provocative anti-Hindu slogans raised by members of the youth wing of Congress ally IUML during a rally in Kerala, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Fact
Video was from July 2023, party expelled the worker who raised the slogan, while 300 members were booked.
Several social media users are sharing a 3:02-minute video, purportedly of a News18 India report on a protest in Kerala, which will see all 20 Lok Sabha constituencies go to polls on April 26 in the second phase of the general elections. According to the anchor, Aman Chopra, and the claims that are going viral on social media, anti-Hindu slogans were raised by the youth wing of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a longtime partner of the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala and a member of the Opposition’s INDIA alliance.
We also received this video on our Whatsapp tipline (9999499044), requesting us to fact-check it.
Fact Check
Newschecker noticed that the dateline of the report read “Kasaragod”, the northernmost district in Kerala, following which we ran a keyword search for “News18 Kasaragod IUML protest Aman Chopra”. We were led to this News18 India report on Youtube, dated July 26, 2023, where the viral excerpt can be seen from the 03:08 mark.
“Yesterday the PM had compared the opposition INDIA alliance to the Indian Mujahideen and today the video of Hindus being hanged and burnt by the Muslim League, an ally of the INDIA alliance, also came to the fore. The Muslim League, which Rahul called secular, also told its plan to burn Hindus to death in Kerala…,” read the description of the video.
A further search led us to this Financial Express report, dated July 26, 2023, stating that over 300 members of the youth wing of the IUML were booked for raising provocative slogans during a march in Kasaragod. The rally was reportedly carried in solidarity with the victims of the violence in Manipur.
“A controversy erupted over the protest rally for the provocative sloganeering by a section of protesters. Youth League State General Secretary P K Firoz said the worker who raised the provocative slogan has been expelled from the organisation. He also said the worker shouted slogans deviating from the printed version given to the workers for raising during the march,” read the report.
A comparison of the screengrab used in the report (left) with a screenshot from the viral video (right) confirms it is the same protest. Similar reports on the controversial rally can be seen here, here and here, confirming that the viral video is of an old protest in the state.
Also Read: Amid Inheritance Tax Row Old Video Of Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath Shared As Recent
Conclusion
A viral video claimed to show hateful anti-Hindu slogans raised during the IUML rally in Kerala was found to be from last year.
Result: Missing Context
Source
News18 India report, Youtube, July 26, 2023
Financial Express report, July 26, 2023
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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.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
