An audio clip of a man speaking about the concept of 'one nation, one religion' has been falsely attributed to Indian born steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, denied the same through its official Twitter account earlier in the month, after the clip went viral.
Lakshmi Mittal is the chairman and CEO of the company.
"An audio file is circulating online claiming to be remarks on Indian politics and religion by our Chairman and CEO. We do not know who the speaker is, but it is not Mr Lakshmi Mittal, " ArcelorMittal tweeted on September 19, 2019.
We reached out to ArcelorMittal via email, which reiterated that the speaker was not Mittal.
The 4 minute 9 second long audio is viral on WhatsApp with the message "👆This speech was given by Mr Laxmi Mittal ( second biggest steel manufacturer of India). "
The same audio was received by BOOM on its WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111)
It is not clear whether the audio is from a conversation or in what context the man was speaking.
BOOM could not independently verify who the speaker in the viral audio clip is.
https://www.boomlive.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WhatsApp-Audio-2019-09-23-at-11.10.40-AM.ogg
The speaker, who at one point identifies himself as the grandson of the second largest steel manufacturers of the country after the Tatas, stresses on how a majority of the nations follow the ‘one nation one religion’ theory.
“It is only India which is multi-cultural, multi-religious. The independence was thrust upon us by the Muslim League. They wanted a separate state for themselves,” the man says.
In the viral audio, the speaker also blames Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, for having declared India as a secular country.
“Today, 99 per cent of the political leaders are bending backwards to appease the minorities as if there is no other political agenda. There is no development (happening in India),” he says.
The speaker further adds how all the developed countries are not secular. “British is not a secular state (but) they are a developed country. Germany, Italy, France, Canada, USA are not secular (as well).” He also questions the outcome of secularism on the country’s development.
He then claims, that after Prime minister Narendra Modi has started propagating ‘nation first’, “people are up in arms”.
The speaker also says that Hindus were “subjugated, humiliated and massacred,” first by the Muslim rulers and then by the British. “This is a 10,000 year old civilization. Our temples and books were destroyed,” he says.
He later says the reason why India lagged behind as a nation was because the "British was ruling us when the Industrial Revolution was happening world over."
The speaker later brings in the reference of his forefathers, who he claimed were the largest steel manufactures of the country, after the Tatas.
“My grandfather was the largest steel manufacturer of the country after the Tatas. And we were heavily restricted by the British government to not manufacture more. We were not allowed to produce screws and nails which would be imported from Sheffield and Manchester and Bristol.”
Cut to today, the speaker says, “That is what India has come out of. This is one prime minister today, who looks at India first and we are accusing him of being a Hindu. It is a 10,000 year old religion. So be it.”
The speaker then brings in the reference of countries like Rome and Saudi Arabia, where it is “would not be possible to keep Hindu idols in Vatican and Mecca. Ram Janmabhoomi has been hanging fire for 350 years. Can you imagine the same thing happening in Rome?"
"Hindus are slowly waking up to the fact, which rest of the country has been practicing for eons. Why should we have no religion. Hindus are slowly waking up to this," the speaker concludes.