News channels India TV and Times Now, right-wing website OpIndia, and several prominent social media handles shared a video of parliamentary proceedings in Pakistan from Monday, to falsely claim that members of parliament were chanting 'Modi, Modi' slogans.
BOOM found that Opposition MPs were chanting 'Voting, Voting', to call for voting on an anti-government resolution, which has been misleadingly presented as chants of 'Modi, Modi' in the Pakistan parliament by the Indian mainstream and social media.
BOOM spoke to Muhammad Omer Hayat, news editor at Dawn, who refuted the claims of 'Modi, Modi' being chanted in the Pakistan parliament. "Opposition members were chanting 'voting, voting' to call for a voting on an anti-government resolution presented by Khwaja Asif. Modi's name came up when pro-government members chanted 'Modi ka jo yaar hai, Gaddar hai gaddar hai' (Modi's friends are traitors), to taunt the opposition. Having covered the proceedings I can confirm that 'Modi, Modi' slogans, or any other pro-Modi slogans, were not raised," he said.
"It is unrealistic to expect pro-Modi slogans being raised by anyone in the Pakistan parliament. It is against their own politics," Hayat added.
Dawn had previously reported on this matter earlier this week, stating that Opposition MPs had chanted 'voting! voting!' for a resolution by Asif.
We also watched the footage of the proceedings and found that the MPs were chanting 'Voting' and not 'Modi'. At one point, amidst the chanting, the speaker can be heard saying, "Voting, sab kuch hoga, sab kuch hoga. Sabar rakhiye aap (Voting and all will happen, please be patient)."
At the 1:01 minute mark in the video above, you can see the segment that is currently viral.
Tweet, Delete, Repeat
Times Now tweeted out the following excerpt from Monday's parliamentary proceedings in Pakistan where the chants of 'voting' can be heard, with the caption, "Watch: 'Modi, Modi, Modi' chants in Pakistan Parliament! Mega embarrassment for Pakistan and Imran Khan. Foreign Minister lashes out in anger."
The tweet was then subsequently deleted without any correction. However, you can view an archived version of the tweet here.
Times Now ended up tweeting the video and deleting it again. Finally, the footage from the parliament was tweeted for a third time, but without Times Now's reporting on the matter, with the caption, "WATCH: Modi fear grips Pakistan Parliament. Pak Foreign Minister lashes out in anger. DISCLAIMER: Video viral on Social Media"
India TV also misreported the proceedings, with anchor Rajat Sharma saying that Modi's name came up several times in the Pakistan parliament. The caption with the tweet posted by India TV read, "Exclusive: Why some MPs in Pakistan parliament shouted 'Modi, Modi'."
While Sharma is correct in saying that Modi's name had come up several times in the parliament, he fails the mention that the Indian prime minister's name was used by pro-government MPs to taunt opposition members by calling them 'Modi friendly' and 'traitors' (the slogan raised was 'Modi ka jo yaar hai, Gaddar hai gaddar hai - or Those who're Modi's friends are traitors).
Sharma also refers to the chants of 'Voting, Voting' and misleadingly calls it sloganeering in Modi's name.
Right-wing website OpIndia also carried this false narrative in an article titled,"'Modi, Modi' slogans inside Pakistan National Assembly: Here is what happened." Initially, the website carried the misleading claims of 'Modi, Modi' chants being raised in the Pakistani parliament. However, they later added the following line, without issuing any correction:
While initially, the chants of 'voting, voting' started while the debate surrounded Islamophobia and the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo, the name of PM Modi was also used in the sloganeering.
Screenshots of the OpIndia article (older and edited version)
The same narrative was pushed out by several prominent right-wing handles, including BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje on Twitter, with the phrase "embarrassment for Pakistan and Imran Khan" being frequently used in captions.
Click here to view an archived version of the above tweet.
Click here to view an archived version of the above tweet.
Click here to view an archived version of the above tweet.
Click here to view an archived version of the above tweet.
Click here to view an archived version of the above tweet.