A video where a man talking in Urdu is referring to the demolition of Babri masjid and encouraging the Muslim community to take control over judiciary, police force, health department and other professions by increasing Muslim representation is massively viral on social media. It has been shared with the claim that the man is the owner of the Himalaya Drug Company. 

The video has been circulated with messages advising against the use of Himalaya products.

Several users posted the video on Facebook and Twitter.

Alt News has received several fact-check requests for this video on its official mobile application.

Fact-check 

Alt News used InVid to break down the video into several frames. We reverse searched one of the frames on Yandex and found another YouTube video featuring the same man. The video identified him in Urdu which translates to Naqi Ahmed Nadwi. 

Searching for his name led us to his social media profiles. We found the same video posted on August 6, 2020, on Naqi Ahmed Nadwi’s Facebook page with an Urdu caption بابری مسجد کا انہدام اوراسکی جگہ پر رام مندر کا قیام تاریخ ہند کا ایک ایسا موڑ ہے جس کے بارے میں مسلمانوں کو سنجیدگی سے غور کرنا ہوگا! (The demolition of the Babri Masjid and the erection of the Ram Temple on its site is a turning point in the history of India which Muslims must seriously consider!)

According to his Linkedin profile, he is an administrator at Maaden, a mining company based out of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has been a resident of Saudi Arabia for at least the past 15 years, though his Linkedin profile says that he completed his education in India.

The founder of Himalaya Drug Company is Mohammad Manal who passed away in 1986. The incumbent President and CEO is Philipe Haydon. The company tweeted a fact-check report debunking the video in question on September 27.

This isn’t the first time that the multinational company was targetted with misinformation on social media. Earlier in March, a false claim suggested that its founder funds terrorists.

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About the Author

Aqib is monitoring and researching mis/disinformation at Alt News