Cropped Part From Rashid Alvi's Speech Shared Out Of Context With Misleading Claim

A short clip of a senior member of the Indian National Congress (INC), Rashid Alvi, is viral on social media, alleging he slurred anti-Hindu remarks in one of his public addresses. In the viral clip, Rashid Alvi is heard saying in Hindi, "जय श्री राम का नारा लगाते हैं वो सब मुनि नही वो निशाचर होते हैं. होशियार रहने की ज़रूरत है." [English translation: Those who chant Jai Shri Ram are not sage but nocturnal. One needs to be cautious.]

Amit Malviya, national in-charge of Bhartiya Janata Paty (BJP) IT cell shared the clip and captioned in Hindi, "सलमान ख़ुर्शीद के बाद अब कांग्रेस के नेता राशिद अल्वी जय श्री राम कहने वालों को निशाचर (राक्षस) बता रहे हैं। राम भक्तों के प्रति कांग्रेस के विचारों में कितना ज़हर घुला हुआ है।"

[English translation: After Salman Khurshid, Congress leader Rashid Alvi calls those who say Jai Shri Ram as nocturnal (demons). How much poison is mixed in the thoughts of the Congress towards the devotees of Ram!]

Prashant Umrao, BJP spokesperson for Uttar Pradesh shared the clip and captioned it in Hindi, "कांग्रेस के वरिष्ठ नेता राशिद अल्वी नें कहा कि जय श्री राम का नारा लगाने वाले मुनि नहीं, बल्कि निशिचर (राक्षस) हैं।"

[English translation: Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi said that those who chant Jai Shri Ram are not sages but demons.]

Several journalists and BJP politicians shared the clip with a similar claim. Click here, here, here, here, and here to view.

The clip is viral on Twitter and Facebook with a similar claim.

Claim:

Those who chant Jai Shri Ram are nocturnal (demons), said Rashid Alvi.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian Fact Check team verified the claim and found it to be misleading. The clip is cropped and is being shared out of context.

We found a Twitter post by Jan Ki Baat of 12 November. They posted a response video of Rashid Alvi on the contention of his viral video. The video was captioned, "Senior Congress Leader Rashid Alvi responds to the controversy over his viral video, says 'my comments have been deliberately misconstrued & misinterpreted by BJP'. Watch his full statement here: #RejectAntiHinduAgenda #RashidAlvi ".

We searched on the internet for the more extended version of Rashid Alvi's speech. We found that MOJO News India had posted the video on 12 November and titled it, "Congress Leader Rashid Alvi Speech on Jai Shree Ram, Hanuman on Ramayana राशिद अल्वी का जय श्री राम".

In his speech, Rashid Alvi recalled an instance from Mahabharat and said in Hindi, which roughly translates to English as follows. He compared the Ram Rajya as described by Tulsi Das to the prevailing situation in the country. He said, "Nowadays, some people mislead other people by chanting Jai Shri Ram; we should be cautious from such people". He further narrated an instance from Ramayana and said, "When Hanumanji was going to the Himalayas to get Sanjeevani Booti, a demon in the guise of a saint was chanting Jai Shri Ram. Hanumanji stopped after hearing Jai Shri Ram. The demon said that Jai Shri Ram could not be chanted without taking a bath. However, many people still say Jai Shri Ram without taking a bath. Well then Hanumanji went to take a bath, where a cursed crocodile caught him, the crocodile got salvation and told the truth about the demon disguised as a saint." In the end, he concluded and said, "Even today many people chant Jai Shri Ram, they are not all sages but nocturnal (demons), and so one needs to be cautious."

After going through the more extended version of Rashid Alvi's speech in Sambhal, we can conclude that a cropped part of his speech is being shared out of context with a misleading claim.

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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