An old video of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi critising the Uttar Pradesh police for alleged cases of police atrocities has been edited and is being shared on social media with the misleading claim that he is making a communal speech.
The video is being shared claiming that he is threatening Hindus and asking who would protect them after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are not in power.
BOOM found that the original video is from a 2021 speech of Owaisi, in which he directs a rhetorical question to the UP Police asking them who would protect them when PM Modi and CM Yogi are not in power while accusing them of police atrocities.
The BJP candidate from the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, Kompella Madhavi Latha, who is up against Owaisi had courted controversy after a video of her gesturing to shoot an arrow, purportedly towards a mosque went viral on Ram Navami on April 17, 2024. Owaisi had criticised Latha and claimed that she was disturbing the peace in Hyderabad. Voting for the Lok Sabha polls in Hyderabad is on May 13, 2024.
The video was posted on Instagram by Richa Rajpoot, Head Social Media- UP Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Youth Wing, with the caption when translated from Hindi reads, "Look at this division into castes!! The castes that have been turning Hindus into Hindus for four and a half years, Have again become Brahmin, Thakur, Rajput, Jat, Meena, Bania, Kashyap, Patel!!"
(In Hindi - जातियों में बटने वाले ये देख लो एक बार !! साढ़े चार साल से हिंदू हिंदू करने वाली जातियां, फ़िर से ब्राह्मण, , ठाकुर , राजपूत, जाट, मीणा, बनिया, कश्यप , पटेल बन गये है !!)
In the video, the caption when translated from Hindi reads, "Before voting in 2024, definitely watch this video and try to make sure that this video reaches everyone's mobile"
(Original text -2024 में वोट देने से पहले इस वीडियो को ज़रूर देखे और कोशिश करिए की सभी के मोबाइल तक ये वीडियो पहुँच जाये)
When translated from Hindi, Owaisi can be heard saying, "
“Yogi will not always remain the Chief Minister. Modi will not always remain the Prime Minister. We Muslims are silent because of the time. We will not forget your injustices. Allah with his power will destroy you. Things will change according to the time. Then who will come to save you?..."
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
The video is being shared on Instagram with the same misleading claim.
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video is edited and in the original video Asaduddin Owaisi is critising the Uttar Pradesh police for alleged cases of police atrocities and asking them who would protect them after PM Modi and CM Yogi are not in power. The part where he mentions UP police and the alleged cases of police atrocities has been edited out of the viral video to make the false claim.
We watched the original speech of Owaisi in Kanpur from December 2021, that was posted on AIMIM's official Facebook page. At the 39 minutes timestamp, Owaisi can be hear referring to an alleged case of police brutality against a Muslim man.
Owaisi can be heard saying, "Now Shaukat sahab was telling me that in Kanpur, in Rasulabad police station, an 80-year-old man named Mohammad Rafiq's beard was pulled and he was urinated upon in the police station, and this was done by an SI named Gajender Pal Singh. If this is true then it hurts me more than being shameful, that you saw his beard and said that we will pull it, why do you hate our beard, an 80 year old man you this to? I want to say this to those police officers"
After this he can be heard saying the part in the viral video, "Yogi will not always remain the Chief Minister. Modi will not always remain the Prime Minister. We Muslims are silent because of the time. We will not forget your injustices. Allah with his power will destroy you. Things will change according to the time. Then who will come to save you?"
The part where he address UP Police and says, "I want to say this to those police officers", has been edited out of the viral video to make the false claim. In the speech ahead too Owaisi goes on to cite several other cases of alleged police atrocities.
Additionally on December 24, 2021, Owaisi had responded on the viral video stating that it was edited. On his official X handle Owaisi stated that he was talking about police atrocities in his speech. The thread can be seen below:
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The Indian Express reported on December 25, 2021, stating that the Kanpur Police had rejected Owaisi’s allegation that a police officer harassed one Mohammed Rafiq, and the Kanpur Dehat police had claimed that he was arrested for allegedly assaulting two police officers and robbing one of them of his service pistol.
A farmer from Bheek Deo village, Rafiq was arrested on December 7, 2021 for allegedly attacking sub-inspector Gajendra Pal Singh and head constable Samar Singh in March 2021 when they had gone to intervene in a domestic violence registered against him by his daughter-in-law reported The Indian Express quoting Kanpur Police.
The Indian Express had quoted Pramod Shukla, Station House Officer of Rasoolabad stating that Rafiq (67) was facing seven cases against him and they had arrested him on December 7, 2021, and allegedly recovered sub-inspector Gajendra Pal’s service pistol from his possession.