A video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing a cabinet meeting with other ministers has been edited and an unrelated audio added to make the false claim that the cabinet committee meeting asked that Sikhs be taken off their positions in the Indian Army.
BOOM found that the original video is from a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died in an air crash on December 8, 2021. We also found that the audio has been edited into it and is not present in the original video.
In the 30 seconds video, along with PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval can also be seen seated.
The edited video was tweeted by the Twitter account Eshal Kaur with the caption, "Cabinet Committee on Security Meeting Minister @ianuragthakur @DrSJaishankar Calls For Removal of #Sikhs From @adgpi #Indian Army".
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The tweet has now been removed by Twitter as it violated Twitter rules.
The edited video was also shared by several other Twitter handles with the false claim.
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Also Read: Unrelated Pro-Khalistan Video Falsely Linked To PM Modi's Punjab Visit
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the original video is from a Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died in an air crash on December 8, 2021.
Viral Video
A glance at the viral video makes it apparent that there is a mismatch between the audio playing and the visuals. We noticed that the audio in the viral video does not sync with the cabinet ministers when they are seen talking.
In the original video that was broadcasted on December 8, 2021, by several news channels, we cannot hear what PM Modi and other cabinet ministers are discussing.
Photos from the same CSS meeting were tweeted by news agency ANI on December 8, 2021, crediting them to the Prime Minister's office. These match with the visuals in the viral video.
ANI had also posted the original video from the meeting on its YouTube channel on December 8, 2021. We can see the same visuals play out from the 18 seconds timestamp as in the viral video.
Also, the same video was broadcasted by several news channels including DD News on December 8, 2021. We did not find any credible news reports on any such conversation during the meeting as claimed in the viral video.
Overlaid Audio
The audio that has been overlaid has been viral on Twitter. BOOM found that audio has been overlaid, and it is from a Clubhouse app discussion where this conversation had allegedly taken place.
Twitter user @himalayanwoman had tweeted the 45 seconds screen recording on January 5, 2022, in the replies to OpIndia editor Nupur Sharma alleging that she was present during the Clubhouse conversation.
In this Clubhouse conversation video, we can hear the same audio of a man calling for the removal of Punjabi soldiers which has been edited into the viral video.
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Opindia, is a right leaning website that BOOM has fact-checked several times in the past for posting misinformation. Sharma in response to this tweet on January 5, 2022, claimed that it was a 'sarcastic commentary' made on Clubhouse by an anon handle months ago, and the conversation was tweeted without her condemnation of the comments. (click here to view the tweet)
BOOM could not independently verify the incident or the audio, however, we were able to establish that the same audio has been edited into the video of the cabinet meeting to make the false claim.
Video is morphed: Delhi Police
Delhi Police on January 7, 2022, tweeted on the viral video confirming that it has been morphed and stated that a case has been registered on the matter.
The caption of the tweet read, "A morphed video of Cabinet Committee meeting after CDS Gen Rawat's demise has been circulated with the ill-intent to create social discord in Sikh community. Case has been registered against propagators of the said video on Social media. We urge you to exercise caution."