A viral video of an independent journalist Navin Kumar who broke down while interviewing two doctors about the COVID-19 crisis in India, is being falsely shared as the last words by deceased AajTak journalist Rohit Sardana.
The original video by Kumar, was posted on April 26, on his independent news channel Article 19 India and is part of a 34 minute long interview. The video has gone viral after the death of 41-year-old Sardana, a news anchor with Hindi news channel AajTak who died of a heart attack, post recovering from COVID-19.
The viral video which is 4.07 minutes long been clipped from the original and is being shared with the caption, "Journalist Rohit Sardana's last interview before his death(India)"
In the video, Kumar who is visibly unwell, breaks down while describing the rising death statistics in the country and how doctors are suffering. He says, "I have never, in the last 40-45 years, seen doctors crying their eyes out...they did not come to this profession to see this day. Without oxygen, seeing their patients dying making them sleepless...This country has turned into hell. We are all left so helpless...for the generations to come, we need to see beyond the fights for mandir and masjid. They will think, which they should, that the country does not need temple, mazaar, and minarets... they should think that the country needs good hospitals... good schools... good medical colleges... the country needs good doctors and paramedic staff..."
FACT CHECK
We ran a reverse image search for one of the keyframes from the viral video and found results that identified the person as Navin Kumar. A search for the same on Facebook showed us a page where Kumar is described as the founder of a media news company Article 19.
We went through Article19's page and found the same video posted as a Facebook Live on April 26, 2021 with the caption, "A talk with Dr.Manish Jangra RMLH Founder FAIMA Doctors Association and Dr Sonu Kumar Bhardwaj LHMC on India's health condition & VIP Culture In Hospitals."
The video is 34 minutes long and shows Kumar in a conversation with two doctors about the rising number of COVID cases and the collapsing health infrastructure in the country.
We also spoke to Dr Sonu Kumar Bhardwaj, a good friend of Kumar who said, "Yes, we know his video is going viral with false claims. The video was recorded by my friend Navin Kumar and in fact I am one of the doctor's he's interviewing in the video. He is currently stable but in the ICU. I would request people to not share the video with any fake news around it."
A photo of Rohit Sardana shows that he bears no resemblance to Kumar, the journalist in the viral video
