Boys conversing in this video hail from Hindu community; video viral targeting Muslims

A video of two boys having a conversation about Hindus, Muslims and Islam is widely circulating on social media. One of the boys, who is on a cycle, claims or pretends to be a Muslim and goes on to make a series of provocative pro-Islam statements including promoting religious conversion. While the other individual, who is behind the camera and cannot be seen, is claiming or pretending to be a Hindu.

Here are two excerpts from the conversation:

1. 0:20 mark: The person behind the camera asks, “You don’t like Hindus?” and the boy on the cycle responds, “You are nice but you’ll go to hell… that’s why I am saying become a Muslim.” The conversation continues along similar lines and in the last few seconds, the boy on the cycle says, “If this Samajwadi Party party wins, then you lot (Hindus) will have had it…”
2. 0:40 mark: He also says, “We (Muslims) will protect you,” to which the other boy responds, “You will? Why? You couldn’t even protect yourself how will you protect us Hindus.” Shortly after, the boy on the cycle appears to break a smile, around the one-minute mark, and says, “We aren’t able to protect ourselves? We have survived over so many years…”

The conversation appears rehearsed or ingenuine.

The video was shared by @Jasdevspeaks with the claim that Muslims want to dominate Hindus after SP’s win in the upcoming UP elections in 2022. It was also shared by @igopalgoswami with the text, “He’s AMU student”. The latter’s tweet gained over 800 retweets.

Sudarshan News journalist Rajat Mishra also tweeted this video. He stated that the alleged Muslim boy is a minor and warned his audience about religious conversion.

धर्मान्तरण के लिए कैसे होता है ब्रेनवाश.. देखिये सबूत..

नाबालिग लड़के के भविष्य को देखते हुए हम उसका चेहरा नही दिखा रहे है।

वीडियो हरिगढ़ (अलीगढ़) का है।@shalabhmani @aligarhpolice @VHPDigital pic.twitter.com/0hPPCNjURZ

— Rajat Mishra (@rajatkmishra1) September 27, 2021

FACT-CHECK

Responding to tweets by Mishra and Twitter user @igopalgoswami, Aligarh police stated that the video was made by two minors from the same community. We spoke with the concerned police officer Kuldeep Singh Gunawat who reiterated that they hailed from the same community but did not share further details to protect the identity of the minors.

इस वीडियो का संज्ञान लेकर मुकदमा पंजीकृत किया गया जानकारी करने पर पता चला कि साइकिल पर बैठा युवक और पूछने वाला युवक दोनों एक ही संप्रदाय के हैं ,और दोनों नाबालिग बताए गए हैं, नाबालिग होने के दृष्टिगत इनको गिरफ्तार नहीं किया गया परंतु वैधानिक कार्रवाई/ जांच प्रचलित है ।

— ALIGARH POLICE (@aligarhpolice) September 27, 2021

Alt News spoke with a local journalist in Aligarh who said, “I spoke with the parents of one of the minors. I can confirm that both boys are from the Hindu community.”

The journalist connected us with Arvind Sengar, uncle of the boy on the cycle. He is the former district coordinator for BJP in Hathras and the present general secretary of the bus operator union in Aligarh. Sengar told Alt News, “My nephew and his friend were just fooling around. Both of them are 17-year-olds and from respectable Hindu families. This conversation was staged but my nephew didn’t know that the video was recorded and later shared on social media.”

When we enquired if his nephew had an interest in politics, Sengar replied, “Not at all. But I must admit, my nephew’s family is a staunch supporter of the BJP. So it’s understandable that certain beliefs are transferred from adults to children. If that’s a good thing or not, I’ll let you be the judge.”

A staged video made by two minors from the Hindu community in Aligarh was circulated by several social media users including Sudarshan News journalist Rajat Mishra targeting the Muslim community.