Authors
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.
Nearly two weeks after Nupur Sharma’s controversial remarks led to a row that took over the internet, social media circles are still ensnared in the controversy. The latest chapter being the arrest of a Kashmiri Youtuber, Faisal Wani, over a video depicting him “beheading” the now suspended BJP leader. And now, another YouTube video of a man threatening to kill Kashmiri Pandits relocating to the Valley is going viral. Social media users are demanding the arrest of this YouTuber calling for the attention of the J&K police and the Home Minister. Newschecker has found that the YouTuber is based in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
The Organiser Weekly, a publication associated with the RSS, was among the Twitter accounts that shared the 28-second video, receiving close to 400 retweets and over 400 likes at the last count.
Sharing the tweet, several users tagged the J&K police, the PMO, the HM, prominent leaders in J&K and journalists and media houses, indicating that they believe the YouTuber to be based in Jammu and Kashmir.
The video is also being shared in the wake of a spate of targeted killings in J&K, mostly aimed at minorities and security personnel. According to reports, there have been 20 targeted attacks in J&K this year. This includes a Kashmiri Pandit government employee, a member of the Rajput community, four migrants and four leaders at the panchayat level. The list also includes four police personnel, an Army soldier, two CRPF personnel, two Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel and three local residents.
The most recent case is the killing of Rajni Bala, a teacher from Samba, who was on her way to work in a school in Kulgam.
Fact check/Verification
To verify the source of the video, Newschecker conducted a keyword search on the words ‘Zaheer Ahmad’, ‘Azaadi point’ on YouTube and came across a YouTube channel with the same name.
On verifying the content of the YouTube channel, we found several videos of the same YouTube host, in which he is heard talking about issues relating to India, Pakistan and Kashmir. In one of the videos uploaded on his channel, he is heard talking about issues that matter most to his locality which he calls Neelam Valley.
On researching more about Neelam Valley, Newschecker found that the region falls in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. He further makes reference to one ‘Shah Ghulam Qadir’ which on searching further, we found to be a reference to the acting President of POK, Shah Ghulam Qadir.
Newschecker could not find the full video on YouTube but eventually found a tweet by Anshul Saxena, a pro-right Twitter personality, who shared that the video has been removed after petitions to YouTube.
Conclusion
YouTuber calling for the death of Hindus in Kashmir is based in PoK.
Result: False Context/Missing Context
Sources
YouTube video of Zaheer Ahmad
Article on Pakistan Point
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Authors
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.
