Gayatri Mantra was not recited at the swearing-in of Pak PM Shehbaz Sharif

A video is viral on social media which shows a woman reciting the Gayatri Mantra in the presence of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. The Gayatri Mantra is a verse from the ancient Indian text, the Rigveda, which is often uttered in prayer in Hinduism.

X (formerly Twitter) user Dilip Kumar Singh (@DilipKu24388061), shared the video with the caption, “Shehbaz Sharif takes oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan with Gayatri Mantra.” (Archive)

शहबाज शरीफ ने गायत्री मंत्र के साथ पाकिस्तान के प्रधानमंत्री पद की शपथ ली pic.twitter.com/U1OB9qPirj

— Dilip Kumar Singh (@DilipKu24388061) March 14, 2024

Several other users on X have also shared the clip with the viral claim that the Hindu prayer was recited by Narodha Malini, a Karachi-based singer, during the oath-taking ceremony of Shehbaz Sharif.

The video is also viral on Facebook, with users claiming that the performance indicates that Pakistan ‘has officially recognized the importance’ of the recital of the Gayatri Mantra.

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Fact Check

We ran a relevant keyword search on Google which led us to this YouTube video, uploaded by NMF News on March 18, 2017. The description of this video says: “The Hindus of Karachi hosted Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif at Holi celebrations on March 15. The PM talked about his ‘strong commitment’ to protect the rights of minorities…”

This shows that the viral claim is false. Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in as the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan on March 4, 2024.

To corroborate this, we ran another keyword search and came across a video interview of the singer, Narodha Malini, conducted by BBC News Hindi. The description of this video states: “Narodha Malini, who became famous by singing Gayatri Mantra in the presence of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during Holi celebrations in Pakistan, had a special conversation with BBC…”

We also checked the swearing-in ceremony of Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and found that no such recital took place there.

To conclude, a video from 2017 of Pakistani singer Narodha Malini reciting the Gayatri Mantra at a Holi celebration in the presence of Nawaz Sharif is being falsely shared across social media with the claim that the Hindu prayer was recited at the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif.

Prantik Ali is an intern at Alt News.