Video of speech delivered by Kashmir University professor shared as Maharaja Hari Singh’s granddaughter

by Jignesh Patel

A video of a woman delivering a speech on Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, criticising the Indian government, is viral on social media with the claim that she is the granddaughter of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the princely state of J&K. The woman can be heard saying, “When the Indian constitution was made, Nehru called Sheikh Abdullah that how shall we define your relationship with us. To which Sheikh Abdullah at that time said, the article which we have given to in the instrument of annexation those should be reflected and nothing else. Because it is temporary and it is conditional and it can remain there only till the dispute is resolved. So, it is temporary in that sense. Because I want to tell it to the Indian public that India has not given us any special status which other states can also ask. In fact, they have taken power from us and they have taken our sovereignty and our whole struggle is for the restoration of that sovereignty.”

The above video has gone viral on Twitter and Facebook.

It was also posted on the YouTube channel Peshawargallery with an identical narrative.

Professor from Kashmir University

Alt News took a cue from a reply posted by a user who claimed that the woman seen in the video is professor Hameeda Nayeem from Kashmir University. She had delivered a speech on the subject of “State Excesses in Kashmir” at a convention against state excesses organised by Aligarh Muslim University Students’ Union in 2018. It was uploaded on YouTube on June 23, 2018. From 25:23 minutes onward in the video posted below, the relevant portion can be heard.

Hameeda Nayeem, who heads the Kashmir Centre for Social and Development Studies (KCSDS), was reportedly detained by the Indian government on August 8, 2019.

Moreover, Vikramaditya Singh, the grandson of Maharaja Hari Singh has called out the misinformation himself. He said that the granddaughter of Maharaja Hari Singh of J&K is his sister Dr Jyotsna Singh and the woman in the video is not her.

In conclusion, a video of Kashmir University professor delivering a lecture on the issue of “state excesses in Kashmir” was shared as Maharaja Hari Singh’s granddaughter speaking on Article 370.

About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.