Old video from ‘Howdy Modi’ shared as clip from PM’s recent US visit

A video of Prime Minister Modi greeting political leaders onstage at an event has been circulating widely. The video has been shot by an audience member. It portrays abuses in Punjabi being hurled at the Indian Prime Minister. Below is a tweet by @Naushad947 that received over 47,000 views as of this writing. The video has been censored and attached below.

Twitter user ‘@FellowcitizenEs’ also shared the footage criticising the incident.

The video is widespread on Facebook.

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The clip is also being circulated with different audio, which contains no abusive language. Facebook user BJP Zindabad had shared it with the claim that Prime Minister Modi received a warm welcome in the United States. Pro-India chants can be heard in the video. A few other users had also posted this video. (Link 1, Link 2)

Fact-check

Alt News noticed that no one in the video is wearing masks, a mandatory requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic. We suspected that this footage might have been filmed before the pandemic. Based on this information, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and found a video of PM Modi’s 2019 visit to the US when the ‘Howdy Modi’ event was held. It had been uploaded by the official channel of the Prime Minister’s Office. Scenes resembling the viral clip appear at the 1:43:30 mark. Therefore, it is evident that the footage was taken during the Prime Minister’s 2019 visit to the US.

The similarities between the YouTube video and the clip in question can be seen below.

In addition, a banner that reads ‘Texas India Forum’ is visible in both videos. Texas India Forum organised the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in 2019.

Alt News was not able to verify the audio of the video. It is noteworthy that one version of the video portrays people hurling abuses at PM Modi while in the other, the audience can be heard raising pro-India slogans. But the video is not recent. It is from the ‘Howdy Modi’ event held two years ago.