Author Harinder Sikka, known to have shared false information on several occasions, tweeted a video on November 15. The accompanying caption read, “Must thank Leftists, Tukde-Tukde gangs #Congress supporters, JNU separatists for pushing us to the wall. Indians have taken a stand against traitors. JNU shows the way with a simple slogan: “Neem leaf is bitter, Pakistan is b@#$%! Whoever supports Afzal Khan, send them to Pakistan!” (archive link)
Must thank Leftists,Tukde-Tukde gangs #Congress supporters,JNU separatists for pushing us to wall.
Indians have taken stand against traitors. JNU shows the way with a simple slogan:
नीम का पत्ता कड़वा है,
पाकिस्तान भड़वा हैं!!
जिसको चाहिए अफजल खान,
उसको भेजो पाकिस्तान!! pic.twitter.com/QVgmsTj0Oy— Harinder S Sikka (@sikka_harinder) November 15, 2020
Akash RSS tweeted the video on November 16, attributing it to a saffron wave at JNU. His accompanying caption quoted the same slogan heard in the clip (archive link). Akash has also shared misinformation in the past.
JNU में लहराया भगवा
खून उबाल देने वाला वीडियोनीम का पत्ता कड़वा है पाकिस्तान भड़वा हैं
जिसको चाहिए अफजल खान उसको भेजो पाकिस्तान
वीडियो देखो ….👇🏽👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/CwTsRFAbcI— Akash RSS (@Satynistha) November 16, 2020
A third user with the display name Prem Sagar Pandey BJP Mirzapur also made this claim while sharing the video.
JNU में लहराया भगवा,
खून उबाल देने वाला वीडियो,
नीम का पत्ता कड़वा है – पाकिस्तान भड़वा हैं
जिसको चाहिए अफजल खान उसको भेजो पाकिस्तान pic.twitter.com/dE34xt17l5— प्रेम सागर पाण्डेय { नम्बरदार } #BJP_MIRZAPUR (@premsagarpande) November 15, 2020
The clip is getting lots of traction on Facebook as well. It was shared by a page called ‘We Support Hindutva‘, garnering 36,000 views in just six hours.
Fact-check
Alt News performed a reverse search of a keyframe from this video and found a Facebook post from October 2018. However, it did not mention where the clip was taken.
After a few keyword searches, we found this video on Limra Times YouTube channel uploaded on October 4, 2018, which mentions the location as Thane, Maharashtra.
We tried to contact the number shown in the video but it was unavailable. Apart from this, another Facebook page posted it on October 2, 2018, stating that it was taken in Thane. We were unable to get any specific information about the location from Thane police since the video was shot at least two years ago.
The oldest iteration of this video was found on September 25, 2018. It was uploaded by a Twitter user named Shailendra Rai. It is worth noting his tweet also does not specify the location.
#निम_का_पत्ता_कड़वा_है_पाकिस्तान_भड़वा_है@CyberArmyPAK @pid_gov @UmarKhalidJNU @nidhitripathi92 @RamaJNUSU pic.twitter.com/IDtyyucDmT
— Shailendra Rai (@rai_shailendraa) September 25, 2018
But Shailendra had uploaded a higher resolution clip. We noticed that a Samsung store can be seen in the background. Alt News then reached out to a few JNU students who confirmed that there is no Samsung store inside the campus thus the video could not have been shot there.
Therefore, the online claims of a ‘saffron wave’ at JNU are unfounded. The clip is at least two years old and was not shot inside the university campus.
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