A cropped video of an old speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he speaks about dug up roads in Uttar Pradesh, is being peddled by right-wing Facebook users claiming the PM is encouraging digging beneath mosques to find out if they were built over Hindu temples.
The cropped video, which was recorded before the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in UP, is being falsely linking it to the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque issue in the state.
BOOM found that the viral video is from March 2017 and is now being shared out of context.
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A Varanasi court had on May 16, 2022, ordered sealing a portion of the Gyanvapi mosque after Hindu plaintiffs in the case claimed that a Shivling was found in the complex of the mosque after a court mandated survey of the premises.
However, The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee representing the Muslim side have claimed that the object described as Shivling is a fountain in the Wazu Khana (ablution) area. The video is viral in this backdrop.
The viral video shows Modi addressing a crowd from the dais. He says, "Our Uttar Pradesh is such that it has been dug up here, it has been dug up there... it has been dug up here... and there, and wherever it hasn't been dug up, digging will be taken up soon."
(Hindi: अरे हमारा तो उत्तर प्रदेश ऐसा है, यहां भी खुदा वहां भी खुदा... यहां भी खुदा, उधर भी खुदा जहां नहीं खुदा है वहां कल खुदेगा)
The 23-second-long video is now being shared out of context.
A Facebook post shared the video with a Hindi caption translating to 'It's dug up here ... it's dug up there... It's dug up here, it's dug up there, it was dug up yesterday, it will be dug today and wherever it hasn't been dug up, digging will be taken up soon (Kar Sevak)."
(Hindi: यहां भी खुदा है , वहां भी खुदा है , इधर भी खुदा है, उधर भी खुदा है , कल भी खुदा था ,आज भी खुदा है , जहा नही खुदा है वहा भी खोद देंगे कार सेवक)
View the post here.
The video has been shared from several Facebook accounts and pages. View here.
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The video was also tweeted by BJP MLA T Raja Singh with a Hindi caption translating to 'Modi ji had already said that wherever it hasn't been dug, it will be dug up later'.
(Hindi: मोदी जी ने तो पहले ही कहा था , कहा खु दा नही है वहा बाद में खोद देंगे।)
The video has been shared by several Twitter users with hashtags of Gyanvapi and similar misleading quotes.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search on one of the screenshots from the viral video. We found a four-minute-long clip uploaded on the YouTube channel of Times of India on March 5, 2017 which had similar visuals as the viral video.
Taking cue, we searched for the video on BJP's YouTube page with the help of related keywords.
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We found a video uploaded on the official YouTube page of BJP on March 5, 2017 with a title 'PM Shri Narendra Modi addresses public meeting in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh : 05.03.2017'.
It may be noted that the 2017 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh were held in seven phases from February 11 to March 8, and the results were declared on March 11.
BOOM listened through the speech of the prime minister and found that the portion that is viral now has been clipped from the timestamp 24.28 onward.
If one hears the complete speech of the PM, it becomes clear he was commenting on the state of roads in then Uttar Pradesh under the rule of former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. Read below the excerpt of the video.
English: Ever since I have been touring Uttar Pradesh, specially after becoming MP... and our MPs also come to meet me and they too say, and they have a very interesting style. They said, Sir, you don't know about Uttar Pradesh. I said, tell me. Arey, our Uttar Pradesh is such that, "It has been dug up here, it has been dug up there. It has been dug here, it has been dug up over there and wherever it hasn't been dug, it will be dug up soon". Now who has made this condition'.
(Hindi: मैं उत्तर प्रदेश में जबसे घूम रहा हूं, खासकर के सांसद बनने के बाद... और हमारे एमपी (सांसद) लोग भी मिलने आते हैं तो वो भी कहते हैं और बड़ी मज़ेदार बात करने की उनकी शैली होती है. अरे बोले साहब! उत्तर प्रदेश का आपको कहां पता है. मैंने बोला, बताइए. अरे हमारा तो उत्तर प्रदेश ऐसा है, 'यहां भी खुदा, वहां भी खुदा. यहां भी खुदा, उधर भी खुदा. जहां नहीं खुदा है, वहां कल खुदेगा.' अब ये हाल जिसने बनाकर रखा है)
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The PM then goes ahead speaking about the state of affairs in the state. In the part immediately after, Modi speaks about the problem of electric cables in UP which hang as dangerous clusters. The PM says that as the MP from Varanasi, he undertook work to lay down cables beneath the road. However, after the work was done, the Samajwadi Party government did not repair the roads fearing the credit would go to Modi.
However, a clipped portion from the original speech is now being shared out of context.