A video of a man in Pakistan giving electric shocks to a minor is in circulation on social media. The video is shared with the claim that the minor in the video is a ‘Hindu girl’ who is forcefully being converted to Islam.
On June 2, 2023, Twitter user ‘Hum Log We The People’, which frequently shares misinformation on the platform, shared this video and wrote, “In Peshawar Pakistan, Hindu minorities, including children, are being forcibly converted to Islam through electric shock and extreme torture.” The matter has come to the fore. How pathetic is the condition of Hindus with whom there is no international media or human rights organization. (archive link)
पेशावर पाकिस्तान में, बच्चों सहित हिंदू अल्पसंख्यकों को बिजली के झटके देकर और अत्यधिक यातनाएं देकर जबरन इस्लाम में परिवर्तित करने का मामला सामने आया है। हिंदूओं की कितनी दयनीय स्थिति है जिनके साथ कोई अंतरराष्ट्रीय मीडिया या मानवाधिकार संगठन भी नहीं है pic.twitter.com/YkvlGknICr
— हम लोग We The People (@ajaychauhan41) June 2, 2023
Shared Last Year as well
In 2022, the video was shared by Radharamn Das, who is the vice-president and spokesperson of ISCKON, by journalist Yatharth Sikka, and by the right-wing propaganda website, Kreatley and by various others. It was accompanied by the hashtag “#TheKashmiriFiles”
The video is also viral on Facebook.
Fact Check
We performed a keyword search on Google and came across a news report published in August 2020, about a ‘fake faith healer’ who was arrested for torturing people. The report further mentioned that he was found torturing and electrocuting a young man. This is similar to what can be seen in the viral video.
Taking this clue we performed another keyword search on Google and came across a news report from August 2020, that featured images that are similar to the viral video. As per the news report, the man in the video is Pir Mohammadullah, who was arrested by the Peshawar Police for performing an exorcism on a boy by electrocuting him.
The news report also features a tweet by Peshawar Police.
کرنٹ لگا کر بچوں کے جن نکالنے والا جعلی پیر گرفتار
سوشل میڈیا پر وائرل ہونے والی جعلی پیر کی ویڈیو کے بعد پشاور پولیس نے اچینی بالا کے علاقے میں کارروائی کرتے ہوئے جعلی پیر محمد اللہ ولد قدرت اللہ کو گرفتارکر لیا،
ایف آئی آر درج کرکے مزید تفتیش شروع کردی گئی ہے.@Aadiiroy pic.twitter.com/mEqfLm6ODx
— Capital City Police Peshawar (@PeshawarCCPO) August 9, 2020
We performed another keyword search in Urdu and came across a news report of his arrest in April 2021. In the report, it is mentioned that after Mohammad Ullah’s previous arrest, he was given bail and was strictly instructed not to engage in any such activities. However, he continued his practice and was arrested by the police after multiple public complaints.
The Facebook page of Haji Mohammad Ullah has around 11 lakh followers and he continues to upload videos of him performing exorcisms on people. He also has a YouTube channel with over 80k subscribers.
While we could not find the viral video on any of his social media accounts, however, while rummaging through his socials we noticed that he shoots most of his videos at the same location. Below we have added a photo comparing stills from the viral video to a video available on Mohammad Ullah’s YouTube channel.
Alt News got in touch with Pakistani journalist Sarah Atiq, who informed us that Mohammad Ullah has a history of making such videos and has been arrested multiple times.
On behalf of Alt News, Sarah Atiq spoke with the Peshawar Police who informed her that all the minors in Mohammad Ullah’s videos are Muslim and there has been an FIR registered (added below) against Mohammad Ullah as recent as November 2021. The police also informed that after the FIR, Mohammad Ullah took down some of his videos, including the one that is presently in circulation.
Speaking to Alt News, Haroon Sarbadial, a local Hindu community leader said that nothing of this sort had happened with any Hindu in the area. In fact, the Hindu community has its own pandits (priests) that perform exorcisms but without causing any physical harm to anyone.
To sum it up, the viral video has nothing to do with forced conversion. It is a video by a Muslim faith healer who performs exorcisms on people, often by electrocuting them and has been arrested multiple times for such acts.
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