Did CM Ashok Gehlot Insult Lord Ram In A Speech? No, Viral Video Shared Without Context!

A video featuring Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has gone viral across social media. The caption of the video claims that Gehlot insulted Lord Ram in his speech.

The video has gone viral in the context of the upcoming Assembly elections in 2023, which has prompted a rapid spread of misinformation targeting political leaders.

Claim:

In the viral video running for a duration of 11 seconds, Ashok Gehlot is delivering a speech while reading from a sheet of paper. He can be seen gesturing to a person to his left. The viral video shows a speech delivered by Gehlot where he can be heard saying, "Taking the name of Lord Ram, the Ra stands for Lord Ram while the M stands for Mohammed."

The viral captions shared by several users claim that CM Gehlot insulted Lord Ram by making a connection between Prophet Mohammed and Lord Ram's name.

A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption in Hindi which reads, "मुख्यमंत्री अशोक गहलोत की भगवान राम पर विवादित टिप्पणी! कहा "राम में जो रा है उसका मतलब राम है और राम में जो म है उसका मतलब मोहम्मद है !! मतलब श्रीमान मोहम्मदवादी हैं !

[English Translation: Controversial remarks by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Lord Ram! He said 'The Ra in Lord Ram means Ram and the M in Lord Ram means Mohammed!!' It means he is Mohammadwadi!.]

Another user wrote, राम में जो "रा" है उसका मतलब राम है और राम में जो "म" है उसका मतलब मोहम्मद है :- अशोक गहलोत मुख्यमंत्री राजस्थान कोई धर्मगुरु इस तोतले को जवाब देगा ? कब तक यह लोग भगवान राम का इस तरह से अपमान करेंगे."

[English Translation: "Ra" in Ram means Ram and "M" in Ram means Mohammad :- Ashok Gehlot Chief Minister Rajasthan - Will any religious leader answer this parrot? For how long will these people insult Lord Ram like this?]

It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar caption.

Fact Check:

We conducted a keyword search with the relevant phrase, "Ra" in Ram means Ram and "M" in Ram means Mohammad". We came upon this Dainik Bhaskar report published on 28 May 2022. The thumbnail of the report is the same backdrop as seen in the viral video. The Dainik Bhaskar report titled, "Gehlot criticised the BJP heavily at Daryav Dham: Hindu-Muslim polarization has begun to appeal to Hindus before there was talk of Ram temple, now the topic has shifted to Gyanvapi! But it's not a good thing."

Gehlot had given the speech at Dariyav Dham Ren, the head bench of the Ramsnehi sect located in Nagaur, Rajasthan. As per the report, he talked about development and the recent communal clashes and violence in his speech. He especially spoke about Ayodhya and Varanasi.

In this speech, as per the report, Gehlot had criticised the communal controversy surrounding the Gyanvapi mosque. While criticising the BJP and PM Modi, he claimed that the PM had failed to speak up against the recent communal riots and violence.

Within this context, the report mentions the statement that was heard in the viral video. "The meaning of the word Ram - Ra that stands for Lord Ram and M that stands for Prophet Mohammed. This sentiment was shared by Daryavji Maharaj who was a symbol of Hindu-Muslim unity "

Taking reference from the information in the report, we conducted a keyword search and came across this video on the official YouTube channel of Ashok Gehlot. The video was uploaded on May 28, 2022, with the caption and the title stating "the inauguration of Brahmalin Acharya Shri Harinarayan Ji Maharaj and inauguration of various development works done by the Tourism department, Shri Dariyav Dham, Ren (Nagaur)".

In the video, at the 41.24 minutes mark, Gehlot begins reading out from a piece of paper. He says, "Daryavji Maharaj had said that the word 'Ra' in Lord Ram stands for Ram and the 'M' means Mohammed".

Dariavji Maharaj was a symbol of such Hindu-Muslim unity. Who can understand the meaning of Ram more than him? Are we not Ram devotees, are we not Hindu devotees?

Mahatma Gandhi had proudly declared that he was a Hindu, but he had also said that it is my religious duty to respect other religions be it Muslim, Sikh, Christian, Parsi or Jain. What's wrong with that? We are all Hindu. We are proud that we are Hindus, but that does not mean that we should degrade other religions. Being Hindu does not mean that we should incite riots, it causes loss of life."

A1TV News, one of the leading news channels in Rajasthan, had also uploaded a report regarding this event on their official YouTube channel. The same statement can be heard at the 42:07 minutes mark.

We conducted a keyword search to verify the claims regarding Daryavji Maharaj made by CM Gehlot. First, we found this blog regarding the works and life of Daryavji Maharaj published by a representative of the Shree dariyav ji maharaj mandir, in Ren, Rajasthan.

Along with information about the religious leader, we came across the following couplet which was written by him.

We conducted another keyword search which led us to a result on the website of the Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts. The report on the IGNCA website gave details about the Ramsnehi sect and its founders. The sect reportedly dates back to the 18th century. The members associated with this sect have played an important role in making common people understand religion in the local language.

The report states that these saints worked on ending the conflict between Hindu-Muslim, Jain-Vaishnav and many other communities. They aimed to establish an integrated simple human religion which was named "Ramsnehi Sampradaya". Within this sect, Daryavji Maharaj had made significant contributions. We found the following couplet in the report which is connected to the statement made by CM Gehlot during his speech.

Conclusion:

In our investigation, we found that CM Gehlot had quoted a couplet by Daryavji Maharaj of the Ramsnehi sect. The couplet is related to the religious work of the sect and Daryavji Maharaj who advocated religious harmony and peaceful coexistence. As heard in the speech, Gehlot uses the quote to illustrate the need for religious harmony in the backdrop of communal tensions being incited due to the Gyanvapi mosque controversy and violent communal clashes.

He uses the quote from the Maharaj to criticise the BJP and PM Modi, by claiming that they did not condemn religious violence and riots. It can be ascertained that the viral video has been shared in a misleading manner and without the entire context of CM Gehlot's speech.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

Also Read: This Temple In Rajasthan Converted Into Mosque By Mughals? No, This Is Jain Temple!