A video of Aligarh Muslim University students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act is being circulated on social media with a claim that they shouted anti-Hindu slogans. On Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha Vice President Santosh Ranjan Rai posted the video with the message, “हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर.यह भारत में सुनने को मिल रहा है भाई.” The grave of Hindus will be dug on the chest of AMU. We are getting to listen this in India.
Fact check
With the help of a keyword search on Twitter, Alt News found the same video with better audio and video quality. Listening to the video posted below, it becomes clear that the claim is false. The students were actually shouting slogans against the Hindutva ideology, the controversial figure VD Savarkar, the BJP, Brahminism and casteism.
Here, the students can be heard saying, “हिंदुत्व की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, सावरकर की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ये बीजेपी की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ब्राह्मणवाद की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर, ये जातीवाद की कब्र. The grave of Hindutva will be dug on the chest of AMU, grave of Savarkar will be dug on the chest of AMU, this BJP’s grave will be dug on the chest of AMU, Brahminism’s grave will be dug on the chest of AMU, Casteism’s grave will be dug.
This video was uploaded on December 12.
Alt News matched the video shared by BJP supporters with the viral version and found that the video has been zoomed-in. The audio quality of the video has significantly deteriorated since the viral version has been uploaded and downloaded multiple times on social media in a cyclic pattern.
As can be seen on the image in the right, the entire gate is visible in the background, while it is not in the the viral video, a screenshot of which can be seen on the left.
Hindutva supporters amplify misinformation
The BJP’s Uttar Pradesh spokesperson Shalab Mani Tripathi posted the video falsely claiming that the students were chanting slogans against Hindus. “Treatment is necessary for people with such attitude and tone,” he wrote. BJP member Richa Pandey Mishra tweeted the video with a similar claim.
Former Shiv Sena member Ramesh Solanki also tweeted the same video with the false claim, “हिंदुओं की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की छाती पर..Yeh aasteen ke 🐍hamare hi tax pe palte hai aur hamari hi कब्र khodege.” Loosely translated: The grave of Hindus will be dug on the chest of AMU. These snakes have been nurtured with our taxes and they will dig our graves.
It had been retweeted almost 2,000 times at the time of writing this article.
BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Bagga posted the same clip along with another video that is viral on social media. He asserted that the students had issued “a clarion call for ethnic cleansing of Hindus”.
BJP social media head Amit Malviya tweeted the same clip as Bagga’s with the message, “AMU students are chanting ‘हिंदुओ की कब्र खुदेगी, AMU की धरती पर.” AMU students are chanting, we will dig the grave of Hindus in AMU’s soil.
Many other social media users have shared the video on Twitter and Facebook with the identical false claim.
This article first appeared on Alt News.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!