CLAIM
A video clip showing a muslim cleric speaking about the strength of the community is being widely circulated on social media. In the 45-second long clip, the cleric goes on to say, “They are torturing us, but if we provoke our young children then we are far more powerful than them.”
BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra also shared the video with a line from the cleric’s statement which reads, “वो जीना चाहते है और हमारे बच्चे मरने को तैयार है”. [Translation: They want to live and our children are ready to kill.]
Although Patra didn’t allege anything, he failed to provide context while sharing the video.
An archived version of the video can be seen here.
The same video was shared by another BJP member, Major Surendra Poonia, who alleged that the video was from Shaheen Bagh.
In his tweet Poonia went on to say, “क्या यह Suicide Bomber है या सेक्युलर Bomber ?
खुलेआम नफ़रत/हिंसा की धमकी दे रहा है हिन्दुओं के ख़िलाफ़..शाहीन बाग़ से कितने मुखौटे ओर निकलेंगे ? [Translation: Is this a suicide bomb or a secular bomb? He is openly spreading hatred and instigating violence against Hindus. How many more will come out of Shaheen Bagh.”]
An archived version of the video can be seen here.
Several other users shared the same video claiming that it was from Shaheen Bagh.
The women in Shaheen Bagh have been protesting against the controversial citizenship law for more than 50 days and the area has become a symbol of resistance and protest.
TRUE OR FALSE?
The 45-second clip which is being circulated is a part of a longer clip in which the cleric, who has been identified as district president of Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind Mufti Raees, is seen talking about the Tabrez Ansari lynching incident which happened in Jharkhand. Earlier in June in 2019, Ansari was mercilessly beaten on suspicion of theft for over seven hours following which he succumbed to his injuries.
The clip hasn’t been tampered with, but the current context in which it is being shared is false.
Further, Mufti Raees was booked for making the ‘provocative speech’. And a case was registered under Section 153 A(1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) and 505-2 (hate speech) of the IPC, reported The Times of India.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
On fragmenting the video and conducting a reverse search on one of the keyframes, we came across a video which was uploaded on YouTube in June, 2019. This video also suggested that the cleric was talking about the Tabrez Ansari case.
Taking a cue from here, we did a keyword search on YouTube and came across a video uploaded by another user who identified him as ‘Mufti Raees’.
We then looked up on Google for news reports related to the incident and came across a report on The Times of India which was published on 1 July, 2019 and had reported that the cleric was booked for his ‘provocative speech’. We found another report in Amar Ujala which too, had the same details.
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