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
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat praises the Congress party, which indicates the “winds of change in the air” amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker noticed that the viral video carried a logo of the Hindustan Times, and was dated September 17, 2018, as seen in the top-left corner.
We then ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to a Hindustan Times report on Youtube, dated September 18, 2018, headlined, “Congress played important role in India’s freedom struggle, says Mohan Bhagwat.”
“Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is holding a three-day lecture series with supremo Mohan Bhagwat in the national capital. Speaking at the event, Bhagwat said Congress played a big role in freedom movement and gave India many great personalities. RSS supremo said, ‘Our people have less political understanding. Political awareness is quite essential. Congress led a great movement in history. It gave us prominent personalities. Congress played an important role in India’s freedom struggle’,” read the description of the video.
We also came across multiple news reports from September 2018, seen here and here, which confirms that Bhagwat’s praise of the Congress party did not take place during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
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Result: Missing Context
Source
Youtube video, Hindustan Times, September 18, 2018
Times of India report, September 17, 2018
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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.
