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Old Video Of Christian Pastor Demeaning Tirumala Shrine Recirculated To Target Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy
India, 9 March 2021 12:41 PM GMT
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A video of a Christian pastor from 2013 demeaning the Tirumala shrine revives as him propagating Christianity amid the rule of Andhra Pradesh's Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Social media users are sharing a video of a Christian pastor chanting Christian prayers in front of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and making remarks against Lord Venkateswara. Many users are sharing the post to claim that as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who is a Christian and that is why the Christian pastor is praying in front of the Tirumala temple to propagate Christianity.
A Twitter user, Anti-Jagan shared the video with the caption, which translates in English as, "Despite the ban of promoting religions other than Hinduism in Tirumala, the pastor is promoting different religion there with the support of YSR. In YCP ruling Christ pastors on Tirumala Temple Shrine."
The video is also being shared on Facebook.
Claim:
The man in the viral video is demeaning Lord Venkateshwara during YS Jaganmohan Reddy's regime in Andhra Pradesh.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian searched on Google with the keyword "pastor in front of Tirumala" and found a video published by TV5 News on YouTube. The video was published on October 30, 2014. The video description identifies the man as Christian priest Sudhir Modithoka. The TV5 video had similar snips as present in the viral video.
Another YouTube channel, Sanskriti Culture of India, had uploaded the full video on November 1, 2014. In the full video, he can be seen making remarks against Lord Venkateshwara and pilgrims visiting the shrine.
According to a report published by The Hindu on October 30, 2014, Tirupati Urban Police arrested Mondithoka Sudhir, founder-director of the Hyderabad-based Emmanuel Baptist Ministry of India (IBMI) from his Puterala residence in Vissannapet Mandal of Krishna district. The report said that the police arrested Sudhir for a blasphemous video on Lord Venkateshwara, which was shot during the Samaikyandhra agitation in September 2013, had gone viral. The report also quoted Sudhir, who said that his intention was to spread the message and not merely to raise funds from foreign missionaries. While indicating that it was his first "negative attempt" to portray a faith in a bad light, Sudhir also promised that it would be his last.
One more thing to note here is that the video is old and is of long before Jaganmohan Reddy became the Chief Minister.
The fact-checking team of the Andhra Pradesh government also tweeted to refute the viral claim. In their Tweet, they said, "#FactCheck - A blasphemous video of evangelist Mondithoka Sudhir from 2013 was made to resurface on social media, in a bid to incite communal violence. A case has been registered & action has been initiated against the handles peddling the fake news."
Hence, an old video of 2013 has been revived up with a false claim that Christian pastors are trying to convert Hindus in Andhra Pradesh under the government led by Chief Minister, who is a Christian.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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