A clipped video of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is being peddled on social media with a claim that he expressed views supporting the Waris Punjab De chief Amritpal Singh for his separatist Khalistan movement.
BOOM found the claim to be misleading. The original video shows that Gehlot terms such separatist movements as 'dangerous' and compares it to the calls for converting India to a Hindu nation.
In the 10-seconds-long viral video, Gehlot can be heard saying, "Amritpal Singh is saying that if they are talking about Hindu nation, then why I cannot talk about Khalistan? What an accurate thing he has said!" Several right-wing users tweeted the clipped video adding a false context that the Congress leader can be seen batting for the pro-Khalistan activist and thus, supporting an anti-India movement.
BJP Delhi vice president Sunil Yadav tweeted the video with a Hindi caption that translates to, "Congress CM Ashok Gehlot said if someone can demand Hindu Rashtra then why can not Amritpal demand Khalistan. The Congress is so much frustrated that in panic, just for the sake of votes, Gehlot ji has forgotten that a Khalistani had killed Indira Gandhi."
(Original Text in Hindi: कांग्रेस CM अशोक गहलोत ने कहा अगर ये हिंदू राष्ट्र की माँग कर सकते हैं तो अमृतपाल क्यों नहीं खालिस्तान की माँग कर सकता। कांग्रेस इतनी तिलमिलाई हुई है कि इस हड़बड़ाहट में गहलोत जी सिर्फ वोटों के चक्कर में ये भी भूल गये कि इंदिरा गाँधी की हत्या एक खालिस्तानी ने ही की थी।)
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Filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri, too, reshared the clipped video without adding any context on his official Twitter handle.
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Media outlet News Tak tweeted the full video but added a similar misleading caption.
Fact Check
BOOM ran a related Hindi keyword search to know details about the video and found it on a Dainik Bhaskar article published on March 31, 2023.
We noticed that the 10-seconds-long viral video is an edited version of the original report and crops out the part mentioning Gehlot's entire speech.
The Dainik Bhaskar report also mentions that the Congress leader attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party saying Amritpal Singh in Punjab is getting the courage to demand Khalistan due to the calls for Hindu nation.
The report shows Gehlot's speech where the Rajasthan CM can be heard saying, "I felt bad when I heard that Amritpal Singh is saying that if they are talking about Hindu nation, then why I cannot talk about Khalistan? What an accurate thing he has said! This is a very dangerous statement for the country."
He further adds, "Now, for the first time, someone has said that if they talk about Hindu nation, why shouldn't I too? Then people from the south can say the same thing. Southern states had raised the same voice 40-50 years before. The new generation does not know about it. We should think about the future of this country."
We also found a video report from news agency ANI mentioning another instance of Gehlot saying Amritpal Singh is demanding Khalistan because RSS Leader Mohan Bhagwat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocate for a Hindu nation.
Click here to view the tweet.