A video of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act is being circulated on social media with a claim that they raised slogans against Hindus. BJP Yuva Morcha vice president Santosh Ranjan Rai posted the video with the message, “हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर.यह भारत में सुनने को मिल रहा है भाई (The grave of Hindus will be dug on the chest of AMU. We are getting to listen this in India -translated)”
हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर.यह भारत में सुनने को मिल रहा है भाई #AAPBurningDelhi pic.twitter.com/QICDDM8yme
— Santosh Ranjan Rai (@SantoshRanjan_) December 15, 2019
Fact-check
With the help of a keyword search on Twitter, Alt News found the same video with better audio and video quality. Listening to the video posted below, it becomes clear that the claim about the students raising anti-Hindu slogans is false. They were actually raising slogans against Hindutva, Savarkar, BJP, Brahminism and casteism.
Here, the students can be heard saying, “हिंदुत्व की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, सावरकर की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ये बीजेपी की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ब्राह्मणवाद की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ये जातीवाद की कब्र. (grave of Hindutva will be dug on the chest of AMU, grave of Savarkar will be dug on the chest of AMU, this BJP’s grave will be dug on the chest of AMU, Brahminism’s grave will be dug on the chest of AMU, Casteism’s grave will be dug -translated)”. It may be noted that this video was uploaded on December 12, 2019.
Are you listening;
All the way from AMU.
Long Live AMU#AMUrejectscab#CABBill2019#CitizenshipAmendmentBill pic.twitter.com/WN77Kwvcz9— پیر زادہ محبوب الحق (@psmh019) December 12, 2019
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Moreover, we matched the above video with the viral version and found that the video has been zoomed-in in the version that is presently viral as compared to the clearer version above. The audio quality of the video has significantly deteriorated in the viral version uploaded and downloaded multiple times on social media in a cyclic pattern.
As can be seen on the image in the right, the entire gate is visible in the background, while it is not in the video which is presently viral, a screenshot of which can be seen on the left.
Photo: Screenshots via AltNews
Right-wing users amplify misinformation
BJP UP spokesperson Shalab Mani Tripathi posted the video falsely claiming that the students were chanting slogans against Hindus while adding, “Treatment is necessary for people with such attitude and voice (-translated)”. The tweet has garnered close to 900 retweets so far. BJP member Richa Pandey Mishra tweeted the video with a similar claim.
आवाज सुनिए, अंदाज देखिए, कह रहे हैं – हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर… ऐसी आवाज़ और अंदाज वालों का इलाज ज़रूरी है #AAPBurningDelhi pic.twitter.com/PLhGsJQ7dM
— Shalabh Mani Tripathi (@shalabhmani) December 15, 2019
Former Shiv Sena member Ramesh Solanki also tweeted the same video with the false claim, “हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर..Yeh aasteen ke ?hamare hi tax pe palte hai aur hamari hi कब्र khodege”. It was retweeted more than 900 times at the time of writing this article.
हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर..
Yeh aasteen ke ?hamare hi tax pe palte hai aur hamari hi कब्र khodege ?
#AapBurningDelhi pic.twitter.com/vYIVS9LfiN
— Ramesh Solanki (@Rajput_Ramesh) December 15, 2019
BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga posted the same clip (left) along with another video that is viral on social media. He asserted that the students raised “a clarion call for ethnic cleansing of Hindus.”
This is Not a protest for #CAB this is call for Ghazwa-E-Hind . Bahut se chehre Naqabo se bahar aa rhe hai dhire dhire pic.twitter.com/MZztJbNwiT
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) December 15, 2019
BJP social media head Amit Malviya tweeted the same clip (left) as Bagga’s with the message, “AMU students are chanting ‘हिंदुओ की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की धरती पर”.
AMU students are chanting ‘हिंदुओ की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की धरती पर…’
Chaps at Jamia want ‘हिंदुओं से आज़ादी…’
If this is the mindset that pervades in these ‘minority’ institutions, imagine the plight of Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan… pic.twitter.com/VRNeOyhaHY
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 15, 2019
Many other social media users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the identical false claim.
It is evident from the video that the students were raising slogans against Hindutva, not Hindus. BJP office bearers were among many social media users who falsely claimed that the chants were anti-Hindu.
