Did PFI Protestors In Pune Raise 'Pakistan Zindabad' Slogans? No, Viral Claim Is False!

We found that despite the claims, several videos of the incident from different angles show that the protesters were saying 'Popular Front Zindabad'. Slowing down the video 4 times and analysing what the protesters were uttering indicated that they were saying Popular Front Zindabad.

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On September 22, several law enforcement agencies raided the Popular Front of India (PFI) offices across the country. Over 100 leaders of the PFI were arrested. A day after, activists of the Islamic political organisation protested against the arrests and nationwide searches in Pune.

This led to a huge row as several political leaders and media houses claimed that 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans were raised at the Pune protest.

Claim:

News media outlets such as Times Now, ABP News, Zee News and OpIndia claimed that supporters of the Popular Front of India

News agency ANI tweeted a video compilation from the protest with the following caption, "#WATCH | Maharashtra: 'Pakistan Zindabad' slogans were heard outside the District Collector's office yesterday in Pune City where PFI cadres gathered against the recent ED-CBI-Police raids against their outfit."

BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Nitesh Rane and MNS leader Raj Thackeray circulated the same claim on Twitter.



Over the past few days, the Marathi news channel Saam TV has shown a 20-second clip from the Pune PFI protest in their coverage, claiming that 'Pakistan Zindabad' can be heard.

In the footage uploaded by Saam TV, a man wearing a pink shirt is inside a police van. The man can be heard sloganeering from the van. The camera then moves to the crowd of protesters. The police van goes away at the end of the clip.

AajTak news anchor Shubhankar Mishra and advocate Ashutosh J Dubey, who has identified on Twitter as 'legal co-convener Of Palghar BJP assembly' tweeted, "In a clear video with clear audio, we can hear that they are shouting "Pakistan Zindabaad" via Saam TV news."


Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it to be false. No Pro-Pakistan slogans were raised during the rally.

We came across a video uploaded by the Facebook page, Policenama, on September 23, 2022. In the video, the PFI protestors can be seen being pushed into the truck at the 4.18 mark in the video. The van starts moving at the 7.56 mark in the Facebook video.

At the 7.43 mark, the slogan, 'Popular Front Zindabad', can be clearly heard in the video. The Saam TV news segment aired the portion of the video from 7.39 to 7.48 minutes timestamp, where the same slogan can be heard.

In our Fact Check, we also came across a tweet by journalist Varsha Torgalkar, shared with the caption, 'Sharing a few videos that show participants were giving slogans of Popular Front Zindabad or PFI Zindabad!'

In the first video, the protestors can be seen being escorted into the police truck, where protestors can be heard saying, "Nara e Takbeer" and "Allah hu Akbar." Pakistan Zindabad, as a phrase, cannot be heard in the video.

In the second video shared by Torgalkar, the police van can be seen moving away from the 00:28-mark in the video. In this video, after the van moves away, the slogan being raised can be heard as 'Popular Front Zindabad'. This slogan is similar to the same section in the Policenama video.

We also came across a Newslaundry article that published a fact-check on the Pakistan Zindabad claim on September 24. The Newslaundry article quoted Pratap Mankar, senior police inspector at Bund Garden Police Station, saying, "Nobody shouted Pakistan Zindabad slogans. This is utterly false." The report also stated, "Their slogan was 'Popular Front Zindabad".

Image Credit: Newslaundary

We also slowed down the Saam TV video by four times showing that the man in the pink shirt is seen closing his lips thrice in succession.

For the lay reader, the word PAKISTAN comprises five consonants: P, K, S, T and N. P is a voiceless bilabial plosive. For saying utter the consonant, one needs to close one's lips to stop the flow of air out of the mouth.No other consonants in the word 'Pakistan' lead to lips closing.

S is an alveolar sibilant. This means that the sound is made by gently placing the tongue's tip lightly against the ridge behind the upper teeth.

K is a velar plosive. This indicates that the letter is pronounced by lifting the rear of the tongue at the soft palate.

T is an alveolar plosive. The sound of the letter is made by placing the tongue's tip against the tooth ridge and by resting the sides of the tongue against the upper side teeth.

N is a velar nasal. The sound is made with our noses.

The words 'POPULAR FRONT' contain two bilabial plosives. P and P and one labiodental fricative: F. A labiodental fricative is pronounced by touching the lower lip with the upper teeth.

One must close one's mouth thrice to utter the phrase POPULAR FRONT, which is exactly what the man in the pink shirt does. It is impossible to utter the word 'Pakistan' by closing the lips thrice quickly.

The reader must remember that the vowels in any alphabet form the crux of a syllable, which in turn, enables us to make meaningful sounds. In that moment of an extreme adrenaline rush, the man in the pink shirt doesn't clearly utter the vowels — O, U, A and O in the phrase POPULAR FRONT. That is why it might sound like some other word. But a phonetic analysis, as done above, proves beyond a speck of doubt that what is being said has three bilabials, which can't be Pakistan.

We also compared the footage of Saam Footage with Viral video. We found that the video clips used by Saam TV for their coverage and footage used by us for our study are identical, which suggests that this was the time period during which the purported chants were raised. Also, it is important to note the similarity in timing between the viral video and the clip utilised by Saam TV (and us). Below you can see the video.

Divya Marathi, a local channel, in a tweet published on September 24, 2022, which translated to English, says, "Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta has denied claims of Pakistan Zindabad sloganeering."

The channel also quotes Pune DCP Sagar Patil, who said that no pro-Pakistan slogans were raised at the PFI rally. A case had been registered against the PFI for unlawful assembly, he noted.


Conclusion:

We found that despite the claims, several videos of the incident from different angles show that the protesters were saying Popular Front Zindabad. Slowing down the video 4 times and analysing what the protesters were uttering indicated that they were saying Popular Front Zindabad. Thus, we can ascertain that pro-Pakistan slogans were not raised at the PFI protests in Pune

Alt News first did this story. Click here to read the report in detail.




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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