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A photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru is being shared on Twitter with a caption that he was slapped by Swami Vidyanand Videh after saying that “Aryans were refugees in India” in 1962.
One such claim shared by a Twitter user on 18 February ‘21 received nearly 2,800 retweets and 5,800 likes. The tweets caption reads:
“When Nehru got a slap on the face by Swami Vidyanand Videh post 62 debacle .
Reason : Nehru in his speech had said that Aryas were refugees in India , hearing this Swami who was also the Chief guest got up went up to the stage and slapped Nehru , pulled the mike to him and said “The Aryas were not refugees they were my ancestors and they were original inhabitants of Bharat but your ( Nehru’s ancestors ) were of Arabian descent and in your veins flow arab blood so you in fact are not the original inhabitants of this great Country … if Sardar Patel was the P.M instead of you , we would not be in such a sorry state “
From : (विदेह गाथा: एक आर्य संन्यासी की डायरी, पृष्ठ 637 संस्करण भाद्रपद 2037 विक्रमी…से साभार)
(बाद मे इन आर्य संन्यासी ने एक किताब लिखी नेहरू : उत्थान और पतन… जो 1963 मे बैन हो गई थी।)
Pic : Nehru after the slap wanting to retaliate but held back
Spread this so that every Indian know who is Nehru”
An archived version of the tweet can be viewed here.
We found that the claim on Nehru being publicly slapped was shared in 2019 as well.
Additionally, Nehru’s photograph with this claim was shared by multiple individuals on Facebook.
Fact Check/ Verification
A reverse image search of Nehru’s photograph on Yandex led us to an Outlook report.
The Outlook link includes an identical photograph of Nehru from the claim with the caption, “Braced for the worst Nehru is prevented from plunging into a riotous crowd in 1962, before the war.” The image was credited to the Associated Press (AP).
On searching the Associated Press’ archives we found the image created in 1962 with the description, “A security man grabbed Indian Prime Minister Nehru to keep him from plunging into a riotous crowd at a meeting of the Congress Party in Patna, India, January 1962. Later in the year, Communist China’s attack on India plunged Nehru into new troubles.”
Swami Vidyanand Videh is described as an “‘Eminent scholar of Vedas’, preacher of a yogic life style” on a website named Ved Sansthan.
Conclusion
The photograph attributed to Jawaharlal being slapped by Swami Vidyanand Videh for saying that “Aryans were refugees in India” in 1962 is misleading. The image was found in the archives of the Associated Press describing it as a security man grabbing Nehru from plunging into a riotous crowd at a Congress party meeting in Patna.
Result: Misleading
Our Sources
Outlook report: https://www.outlookindia.com/photos/single/98475
Ved Sansthan: http://www.veda-sansthan.org/p/founder.html
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