Bengaluru: After Congress party candidates won three out of the four Rajya Sabha seats in Karnataka on Tuesday, February 27, some local news channels reported that "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans were raised by the supporters of re-elected Congress MP Dr Syed Naseer Hussain. Subsequently, these news reports were widely shared by BJP leaders on platform X (formerly called Twitter). However, closer examination of the video suggested that the slogans were "Nasir Saab Zindabad" not "Pakistan Zindabad," the Congress party claimed.

The state assembly session was adjourned on Wednesday after BJP MLAs repeatedly protested and raised slogans against Hussain and the Congress party.

"Frustrated & demoralised by their resounding defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections in Karnataka, BJP leaders are peddling their favourite set of lowly lies of Pakistan Zindabad slogans being raised by supporters of Congress MP," Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala wrote on X refuting the BJP's claims while posting a video of the alleged incident. 

In a series of posts, Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair highlighted on X how the videos taken from different angles showcase that the slogans were indeed in the name of the MP and not Pakistan.

Rejecting the BJP's claim, Congress leader Hussain issued a video statement on X and claimed that he only heard slogans such as 'Naseer Hussain Zindabad,' 'Congress party Zindabad,' 'Naseer Khan Zindabad,' and 'Naseer Saab Zindabad.'

"When I was leaving for my house, I got a call from the media saying that somebody has raised slogans of Pakistan Zindabad. I would like to say here when I was there, when I was in the midst of the people there were lots of slogans... I never heard a slogan called Pakistan Zindabad. But whatever is there we have already asked the police, let the police investigate," Hussain said.

"If somebody has given (raised) such a type of a slogan then he has to be dealt with sternly and strictly. There has to be an inquiry and in case somebody has morphed the video, doctored the video and played a mischief even that has to be inquired," Hussain added.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Police registered a suo motu FIR against an unidentified man for shouting "Pakistan Zindabad" in the corridors of the Karnataka state assembly, Times of India reported.

As per the report, the FIR was filed based on electronic media news reports. Further, Times of India also reported that BJP MLC N. Ravikumar and opposition chief whip and MLA Doddanagowda Patil also filed a complaint with Vidhana Soudha (Karnataka assembly) police against Hussain, alleging that his supporters were the ones who had shouted "Pakistan Zindabad" while he was speaking to the media after being declared winner in the Rajya Sabha polls.

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“We have obtained the video and analysing it,” Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda told News18.

Karnataka BJP leaders react 

Union minister of state for Agriculture & Farmer's Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje claimed that "infiltration by banned PFI members within parties, including the Congress, linked to yesterday's episode". Posting a letter on X addressed to Amit Shah, the minister wrote that she has asked for a "rigorous NIA inquiry, following the state government's inaction" on the slogan raising matter.

Union minister of state for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development,Electronics & Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar also retweeted a post shared by the Karnataka BJP claiming that "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans were raised in the state assembly.

Similarly, Karnataka BJP president Vijayendra Yediyurappa also wrote on X that it is "highly blasphemous of Congress supporters to have openly raised 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans".

Similar instances in the past  

This is not the first instance when BJP supporters and certain sections of the media asserted that pro-Pakistan slogans were raised by Congress supporters and other Opposition party members.

On several occasions, Alt News debunked several such claims where names of leaders have been misrepresented as ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ by BJP members and news channels. Zubair pointed out 21 such reports written by the fact-check media outlet.

For instance, in December 2021, News24 had reported that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised at Dudhai village in Kachchh, Gujarat after gram panchayat election results were announced based on a viral video. Several other local media outlets, including VTV Gujarati  and web portal  Vibes of India also reported on the video underlining that such slogans were raised. However, as per a report published in Divya Bhaskar, Superintendent of Police Mayur Patel clarified that locals were actually chanting ‘Radhubhai Zindabad’, Alt News noted.

In a similar incident, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP MP Rajdeep Roy and other BJP leaders posted on X in November 2020 that All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) chief Maulana Badruddin Ajmal was welcomed at Silchar airport in Assam with "Pakistan Zindabad slogans". TimesNow, NewsLive and other news outlets also reported on the matter. This claim was found to be false by Alt News as closer examination of the videos highlighted that the AIUDF supporters were raising slogans of  ‘Aziz Khan zindabad’.

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