A video of a woman criticizing the government is viral on Facebook. It is being claimed that she is former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece. Facebook user Ayyub Qureshi shared the video with the message, “अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी जी की भतीजी की राय सुनिए NRC CAA के बारे में। (Listen to the view of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece on NRC CAA -translated)”. The post has been shared more than 43,000 times and liked over 10,000 times so far. It has more than 8 lakh views (archive).
अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी जी की भतीजी की राय सुनिए NRC CAA के बारे में।
Posted by Ayyub Qureshi on Monday, 13 January 2020
Alt News has received a request on its official app to check the authenticity of the video.
Social worker, not Vajpayee’s niece
Alt News found that the woman is not Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece but a social worker from Delhi. A closer look at the video reveals the logo “HNP News” on the screen.
With a keyword search on the organization’s YouTube channel, we found the video posted on January 3, 2020. At 1:35 minutes, the woman is identified by the channel as Atiya Alvi, a social worker based in Delhi.
“I was at a protest in Jamia Milia and I am not Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece,” Alvi told Alt News. Vajpayee’s niece is Karuna Shukla and she is 69 years old. Atiya Alvi is visibly younger.
Video viral on social media with false claim
We found that the video is massively viral on Facebook with the false claim.
It is also being shared on Twitter and YouTube with the same narrative.
माननीय वाजपयी जी की भतीजी ने आखिरकार तोड़ी चुप्पी | जानिए क्या कहा
👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 @BJP4India @AmitShah @BJP4Maharashtra @ShivSena @NCPspeaks @INCIndia pic.twitter.com/eLon3gstNm— योगेश विष्णू पाटील (@Yogesh_patil80) January 14, 2020
It may be reiterated that a video of a Delhi-based social worker is being shared with the false claim that former prime minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s niece criticized the government.
