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.
Several social media users are sharing a video, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently offered prayers at the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Fact check
Newschecker, upon inspecting the viral video, although blurry, could not ascertain that the individual is Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising our doubts. We ran a keyword search for “Modi Sabarimala”, which did not throw up any relevant results indicating a recent visit of the PM.
We, however, noticed a watermark, reading M7 News. We then ran a corresponding keyword search for “M7 News Sabarimala”, which led us to this Youtube video, a clearer version of the viral clip, dated December 5, 2022, titled “HE Arif Muhammed Khan, Kerala Governor at Sabarimala: Dharshan”. According to the description of the video, “Arif Muhammed Khan, Kerala Governor had Dharshan of Swami Ayyappan at Iyyappan Kovil Sabarimala, with Irumudi via 18 steps. A quiet visit to see and worship the Deity in Kerala, India. M7 News TV of Kerala coverage was forwarded by a friend Ganesh Tower Mani Annan. Originally believed to be PM Modi, it was later clarified that resemblance, from a distance, led to the error.”
Taking a cue from this, we ran a keyword search for “Arif Khan Sabarimala”, which threw up multiple news reports and videos, dated April 11 and April 12, 2021, of the Kerala governor offering prayers at the temple. They can be seen here, here , here and here, confirming that the person in the viral video is Kerala governor Arif Muhammed Khan.
Conclusion
A video of Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s visit to Sabarimala in 2021 falsely claimed to be PM Narendra Modi offering prayers at the temple.
Result: False
Sources
Youtube video, December 5, 2022
Times Of India report, April 11, 2021
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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.
