Rahul Gandhi did not talk about rights of minorities exclusively; video of his speech shared by Right Wing is edited

Following the controversy surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anti-Muslim hate speech in Banswara, Rajasthan, a clip of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s speech has gone viral. Several prominent Right Wing users have shared the viral clip alleging ‘Hinduphobia’ by Gandhi.

In the clip, Rahul Gandhi is purportedly heard saying, “Desh ke X-Ray kar denge, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jayega. Minorities ko pata lag jayega ki desh mein unki bhaagidari kitni hai. Iske baad hum financial aur institutional survey karenge, yeh pata lagayenge ki kiske haaton mein hai, kaunse varg ke haat mein hai. Aur is aitihasik kadam ke baad hum krantikaari kaam shuru karenge..(Translation: We will X-ray the country, everything will be crystal clear. Minorities will know their true representation in the country. After this, we will conduct financial and institutional surveys to determine who holds what, and which class has control. After this historic step, we will start transformative work…)

BJP MP Giriraj Singh tweeted the video and remarked that Rahul Gandhi was openly talking about ‘snatching away’ the rights and property of the Hindus.

ये सज्जन खुलेआम हिंदुओं के अधिकार और संपत्ति छीनने की बात कर रहे हैं।
यह बहुत डरावनी मानसिकता है। pic.twitter.com/Ds1mQQzUdc

— Shandilya Giriraj Singh (मोदी का परिवार) (@girirajsinghbjp) April 23, 2024

Right Wing troll Ajeet Bharti also made a similar claim while tweeting the 42-second video and sarcastically asked, “How can someone be so stupid?”

इसे नरेन्द्र मोदी का वीडियो नहीं मिला क्या? कोई इतना मूर्ख कैसे हो सकता है? pic.twitter.com/F8JCEHROvk

— Ajeet Bharti (@ajeetbharti) April 23, 2024

Verified user Arun Pudur also tweeted the viral clip with the same claim that Rahul Gandhi had promised favours to minorities, insinuating Muslims.

🚨Don’t Miss This Bone Chilling Video 🚨

We will do a nationwide”X-Ray”, we will then know how much is owed to ‘Minorities’.

Then we will do ‘Survey’ of Individuals Financials and Institutions.

We will find who has the ‘Wealth’ and to which Caste they belong.

After all this… pic.twitter.com/wUr1FDjk7k

— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) April 23, 2024

The same video was amplified by Right Wing influencer Rishi Bagree as well.

Step 1 – Do a nationwide”X-Ray”
Step 2- Analyse how much is owed to ‘Minorities’
Step 3 – Do ‘Survey’ of Individuals
Step 4 – Find who has the ‘Wealth’
Step 5 – Analyse their caste
Step 6 – Do Re-distribution of wealth

Every Vote to Congress is signing your own death warrant pic.twitter.com/aOitCpa5MY

— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) April 23, 2024

‘Journalist’ Abhijit Majumder shared the clip and remarked that Gandhi wasn’t ‘hiding his Hinduphobia and Marxist-Islamist ideas anymore’ and further claimed that he delivered and openly communal speech.

“Desh ka X-Ray kar dengey. Minorities ko pata chal jayega unki bhagidari kitni hai.”
~ Rahul Gandhi is not hiding his Hinduphobia and Marxist-Islamist ideas anymore.
Just listen to this openly communal speech.#WealthRedistributionPlan pic.twitter.com/FGsLY8yXZN

— Abhijit Majumder (@abhijitmajumder) April 23, 2024

Fact Check

Upon a reverse image search on a key frame from the viral video, we found that the viral clip had been taken from the event of the Congress Manifesto launch in Hyderabad. We located the viral bit at the 31:54 minute mark and found that the video had been edited. Rahul Gandhi had actually spoken about the representation of Dalits, Tribals, OBCs, and poor people while also mentioning minority communities. Only the part where he mentions ‘minorities’ has been kept in the viral clip. Below is a translation of what Gandhi said:

“We will X-ray the country, everything will be crystal clear. The Backward Classes, Dalits, tribals, poor general caste people and minorities will know how much their share in this country is. After this, we will conduct a financial and institutional survey to determine who holds what, and which class has control. After this historic step, we will start transformative work, we will work to give you what is your right.”

The words in bold in the above statement have been edited out in the viral video.

Thus, it is clear that Rahul Gandhi didn’t exclusively mention the minority community when he discussed conducting surveys and ensuring rights. His remarks encompassed backward classes, Dalits, tribals, economically disadvantaged general caste individuals, as well as minorities. However, the video of his statement was edited and manipulated, removing references to other classes and leaving only the mention of minorities.

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