Old video of Congress MLA clipped to suggest he said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’

A 20-second video clip of a person speaking at a rally, has gone viral on social media. The clip begins with the speaker shouting ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. It has been shared with the narrative that the person is Congress MLA Naseem Khan from Chandivali constituency of Mumbai. Several Twitter users have posted and retweeted this video. It is also viral on Facebook.

It has been shared on Facebook by individual users with identical text which reads, “यह है चांदिवली मुंबई से विधायक नसीम खान – कांग्रेसी! पाकिस्तान जिंदाबाद के नारे लगाकर, मोदी जी और राजनाथ सिंह जी को कैसे धमकी दे रहा है, ….!आक थू 😡 #जिहादी #कटपीस” (This is Congress MLA from Chandivali, Mumbai, Naseem Khan! How he is threatening Modi ji and Rajnath Singh ji while chanting Pakistan Zindabad!- translation). 

FACT CHECK

The top right corner of the video clip has a logo, ‘Mushaira Media’. Alt News searched YouTube and found a channel with the same name. We found the complete video of the event where Naseem Khan had spoken. The video pertained to a mushaira event held in Mumbai, and was uploaded in June 2016.

In the above video, the person can be heard speaking from 2:36:00. Alt News ascertained that he is indeed Congress politician Naseem Khan, currently MLA from Chandivali constituency in Mumbai, Maharashtra. However, the video clip being circulated on social media has been mischievously edited.

From 2:41:24 to 2:42:00, Khan says, “मैं पूछना चाहता हूँ मोदीजी से, की आज यमुना के किनारे दिल्ली में, श्री श्री रविशंकर ने पाकिस्तान ज़िंदाबाद लगाया, वह राजनाथ सिंह की मौजूदगी में, उनके ऊपर देश द्रोह का मुकदमा चलेगा या नहीं, अगर हिम्मत है मोदीजी के अंदर , राजनाथ ने अगर अपनी माँ का दूध पिया है, तो देशद्रोह का मुकदमा चला के दिखाए” (Translation: I want to ask Modiji, today in Delhi on the shore of the Yamuna, Sri Sri Ravishankar said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, in the presence of Rajnath Singh. Was a case of sedition slapped on him or not? If Modiji and Rajnath (Singh) have guts, then let them slap a case of sedition).

Naseem Khan was referring to Sri Sri Ravishankar and the ‘World Culture Festival’, the mega event organised by him in Delhi in 2016. At the event, Ravishankar had said that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ should go hand-in-hand with ‘Jai Hind’, a statement which had caused some controversy.

The original clip was taken down after this fact-check was published however it can be watched below.

WATCH: How a 2016 speech by Congress MLA Naseem Khan was clipped to falsely claim that he said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. pic.twitter.com/nmgDN0qk8D

— Alt News (@AltNews) October 15, 2019

It may be noted that the video clip in question is from 2016, and edited. Congress MLA Naseem Khan had not said ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, but was referring to a statement by Sri Sri Ravishankar. This was earlier fact-checked by Boom.

[Update: This article was updated on February 7, 2020, to include BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra’s tweet.]