A video of a priest reading a verse from the Bible during the 'Sarva Dharma Prarthana' a multi-faith prayer held during the induction ceremony of Rafale jets into the Indian Air Force is being shared with the misleading context as the ceremony included representatives of other faiths as well.
The clip is being shared in the backdrop of five Rafale aircraft being officially inducted into the IAF on Thursday at the Ambala airbase in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the French Defence Minister Florence Parlyat.
Also Read: Rafale Jets To Arrive In India Today: All You Need To Know
In the clip, a priest is seen reading a verse from the Bible as other religious representatives can be standing next to him with the camera panning to the Rafale jet and other dignitaries including Singh present there.
The 3.06 minutes clip is being shared with the caption, "Prayer at the Rafael aircraft induction ceremony..."
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BOOM also received the viral clip on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111)
Viral on Facebook
On searching with the same caption on Facebook, we found that the clip was being shared with the misleading claim.
Also Read: Tweets From Fake Emmanuel Macron Account On Rafale Jets Go Viral
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the Rafale induction ceremony had a multi-faith prayer ceremony that was conducted by priests from Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity. The prayers offered by the religious representatives are a unique
feature at many important ceremonies of the Indian armed forces.
We watched the broadcast of the ceremony and saw that all four priests had offered prayers at the event. They can also be seen standing next to each other in the viral video as well as the Doordarshan National logo is visible.
One viewing the Doordarshan National broadcast of the event, at the 36.34 timestamp we can see the Christian priest read from the Bible as in the viral video. However, before him, religious representatives from other faiths also spoke which has been cut out in the viral clip.
The ceremony included the recitation of the sacred verses, mantras, hymns of their respective faiths and not one particular faith.
Also Read: No, This Video Does Not Show France's 'Farewell' To Rafale Aircraft