No, ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan was not raised gram panchayat polls in Kutch, Gujarat

A video of a group of people chanting slogans in Gujarat’s Kachchh is viral on social media. It has been claimed that locals in the Dudhai village of Kachchh allegedly chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ after election results were announced.

News24 reported that the incident took place after the gram panchayat election results. The channel later took down the tweet but an archived link can be accessed here.

Several local media outlets, including VTV Gujarati also promoted the claim. A web portal named ‘Vibes of India’ also gave coverage to the viral claim.

The video is viral on Facebook and Twitter with the claim that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised in Dudhai, Kutch.

Fact-check

After watching the video carefully, we discovered that the slogan being raised was not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. This video was taken after the results of the gram panchayat elections were announced, where Reenaben Radhubhai Kothiwad was declared as the winning candidate.

We performed a keyword search and came across a report published in Divya Bhaskar, Dainik Bhaskar’s Gujarati publication. The outlet reported that people chanted slogans in the Anjar area of the Dudhai village of Kachchh following the announcement of the election results. A video of this was circulated with the false claim of anti-India sloganeering, even as police investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The report quoted Kachchh Superintendent of Police Mayur Patel as saying that locals were actually chanting ‘Radhubhai Zindabad’.

The Twitter handle of SP East Kutch also clarified that the viral claim is false. The tweet said that the people in the video were not chanting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ but ‘Radhubhai Zindabad’. Radhubhai is the husband of Reenaben, the winning candidate.

This video’s circulating on social media FALSELY claiming that “Pakistan Zindabad” slogan was raised in election victory rally!
Crowd in the video they told us that person hailed “Radhubhai Zindabad” twice. Radhubhai is name of Rinaben’s (victorious Sarpanch candidate’s) husband! pic.twitter.com/GV8O3XUSFS

— SP East Kutch (@SP_EastKutch) December 22, 2021

Alt News contacted SP Mayur Patel’s office and was informed again that pro-Pakistan slogans were not raised. We were sent a video statement of the SP.

“Female candidate Reenaben Radhubhai Kothiwad of Dudhai village was declared as the new sarpanch following the announcement of the gram panchayat election results yesterday. A rally was then taken out during which attendees chanted ‘Radhubhai Zindabad’ twice. A video of this was circulated with the false claim that the slogan being heard was ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. However, if you listen closely, you will come to know what the people are actually chanting. Action will be taken against those sharing the visuals with this misleading claim,” said SP Patel.

Locals in Dudhai village of Kachchh, therefore, did not chant slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. Alt News has debunked similar videos of past rallies and public gatherings circulated with an identical false claim.