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  • 2019-06-04 (xsd:date)
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  • No, this video does not show people celebrating Indian National Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s election victory (en)
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  • A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook which claim it shows supporters of Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi celebrating his election in Wayanad constituency in the southern state of Kerala in May 2019 elections. The claim is false; the video has circulated online since at least April 2019; it actually shows the crowd chanting the name of a different Indian politician in a different Indian town. The 46-second video was published on this Facebook post on May 25, 2019 where it has been viewed more than 12,000 times and shared more than 200 times. Below is a screenshot of the video in the misleading post: The Hindi-language caption translates to English as: Look at the celebrations in Wayanad after Rahul Gandhi’s victory, look at this video, it appears as if a politician from Pakistan has won. Wayanad is a town in the southern Indian state of Kerala. Rahul Gandhi, leader of India’s main opposition party the Indian National Congress (INC), won the seat for Wayanad in the Indian elections, for which official results were announced May 23, 2019. Here are the official results on the website for the Election Commission of India. Nationally, Gandhi’s party conceded defeat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party on May 23, 2019. Here is an AFP report about India's election results. The same video was also shared on Facebook here , here and here with a similar claim. The claim is false; the video has circulated online since at least April 2019; it shows a crowd chanting the name of a different Indian politician in a different Indian town; it was posted online before Gandhi’s victory in Wayanad was announced. A reverse image search on Google found this 45-second video published on YouTube on April 23, 2019. The YouTube video caption states: Iuml kalashakott at Malappuram. Iuml refers to an Indian opposition party called the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Malappuram is a town in Kerala. The YouTube video is identical to the video in the misleading posts up to the 45-second mark. The video in the misleading posts has an additional one second of footage. Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading posts (L) and the YouTube video (R): A journalist in AFP’s Delhi bureau analysed the YouTube video, which shows a crowd of people cheering and waving flags. The crowd can be heard chanting in the Malayalam language. Their chants translate to English as: Let them drink black tea, let them eat food. Let them read Deshabhimani. Let them smoke country made cigarette, This year let Satishchandran sit at home. Let Rajmohan Unnithan ride to victory in Parliament. Long live UDF, Long live Rahul Gandhi. Down with Modi Rule, Down with Violence, Down with Fascism... Rajmohan Unnithan was a candidate for the United Democratic Front (UDF), an alliance of political parties led by the INC in Kerala state. Here is his official Facebook page. This report published by The Hindu newspaper on May 23, 2019, states Unnithan won the seat for the municipality of Kasaragod in the 2019 Indian elections. The report also states he defeated his rival K.P. Satishchandran, a candidate from the Left Democratic Front (LDF). The crowd’s chant Let them read Deshabhimani refers to a left-wing Malayalam newspaper based in the Indian state of Kerala. Through further analysis, a journalist in AFP’s Delhi bureau found the video was filmed in Kasaragod town. Below is a screenshot from the YouTube video with a sign circled in black which states ‘Aramana Bazar’: Here is the same shop listed on Google maps. This is the shop’s official Facebook page in Kasaragod town. The shop's Facebook page shared this image of the store on November 27, 2016. Below is a screenshot comparison of the shop seen in the video in the misleading posts (L) and the same shop pictured on its official Facebook page (R): The misleading posts contain an additional claim that the people in the crowd are waving Pakistani national flags. The claim is false; the flags represent the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Below is a screenshot comparison of the flags seen in the video in the misleading posts (L) and the flag on the IUML website (R): Pakistan’s national flag is green with a white star and crescent on it, but it also has a distinct large white stripe on its side. Below is an AFP photo of the Pakistan flag: (en)
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