Saharanpur students didn’t shout pro-Pakistan slogans; false claim by media, RW handles

A video of a group of college students in uniform chanting slogans inside a bus is making the rounds on social media. It is claimed that the students raised pro-Pakistan slogans. Many users are also claiming that two of these students were arrested.

ABP News journalist Vivek Bajpai also made the same claim while tweeting the clip. (Archived link)

ये नमक हराम सहारनपुर की ग्लोकल यूनिवर्सिटी के हैं जो पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद के नारे लगा रहे हैं। इनमें से दो की पहचान ⁦@digsaharanpur⁩ ने कर ली हैं।
इन कमबख़्तों को ऐसा सबक़ सिखाइए की इनकी पुश्ते भी भारत माता की जय बोलें ⁦@Uppolice⁩ ⁦.@myogiadityanath⁩ pic.twitter.com/pNwDecqb6d

— Vivek Bajpai (@vivekbajpai84) February 4, 2023

Journalist Rishabh Mani of News18 tweeted this video claiming that the students of Saharanpur’s Glocal University were raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. (Archived link)

Similarly, a number of media outlets, propaganda websites, politicians, journalists and social media users amplified the video with the same claim. Among them were UP Tak, Times Now Navbharat, ABP News, Amar Ujala, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, ETV Bharat, Dainik Bhaskar, Free Press Journal, BJP spokesperson Prashant Patel Umrao, Dainik Hint editor Kapil Tyagi, Anil Bhardwaj of Aaj Tak, India TV journalist Khushboo Chaudhary, Gaurav Shukla of Asianet News, journalists Shubham Shukla and Himanshu Mishra, right wing propaganda portal OpIndia, Newsroom Post, Only Fact, RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya, and BJP supporter and Only Fact founder Vijay Patel. In their articles and posts, it was claimed that the students shouted pro-Pakistan slogans.

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Fact Check

Alt News examined the video closely by listening to it at different playback speeds. We found that the slogan being chanted by the students was not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. In fact, they were actually saying, “Zaid sir Zindabad, Zaid sir Zindabad, Monis sir Zindabad, Monis sir amar rahein” (Long live Zaid sir, Long live Monis sir). This can be heard clearly when the video is played at 0.75 x speed.

According to a press note issued by the Uttar Pradesh Police, the students were part of the DPharma course at Glocal University. Two DPharma students, Soban and Shaban, had been identified, while the identity of the others were being looked into.

Alt News reached out to Glocal University students Soban and Shaban for more information. They explained that there was no pro-Pakistan sloganeering in the college bus. According to them, the students were having fun and shouting slogans in support of their teachers ‘Zaid Sir’ and ‘Monis Sir’.

We also contacted both the teachers. They revealed that on February 3, they were traveling with their students to J V Jain College to participate in the ‘UP Global Investors Summit – 2023′. Since both the teachers were students’ favourites, the students chanted their names in the bus. They clarified that the students never raised any objectionable slogans like ‘Pakistan Zindabad’.

Alt News also spoke to Gulshan Saini and Shubham Kumar, two students who were in the bus. They confirmed that no student chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, and instead the group was raising slogans in the name of Zaid Sir and Monis Sir.

Teachers and students informed Alt News that the university recorded the statements of more than 30 students who were inside the bus, along with the bus driver and teachers. Everyone categorically denied that any objectionable slogans like ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ were being chanted in the bus.

In a video statement given to the press, the police said that the audio in the viral video was not so clear. They added that a case had been registered in this matter and it was under investigation.

We also reached out to Saharanpur’s SSP Vipin Tada on this issue. He said that the video had been sent for investigation. No arrests have been made in this case so far.

To sum it up, several news channels, media outlets, propaganda outlets, journalists and social media users falsely claimed that Glocal University students raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans inside a bus. In reality, the students were having fun and raising slogans in support of their teachers, ‘Zaid Sir’ and ‘Monis Sir’, who were also in the bus.