A 9-second video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi claiming Hinduism is not a religion is doing rounds on social media. In the video, Modi can be seen giving an interview with Arnab Goswami. Many users are sharing the image mocking Prime Minister for his statement.
A Facebook user posted the viral video with the caption:
हम मानने को तैयार नही की हिंदू एक ‘धर्म’ है – @narendramodi (English translation: We are not ready to accept that Hinduism is a ‘Dharma’ – @narendramodi)
You can watch the viral video here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found the claims to be misleading.
Along with Arnab Goswami, we could also notice the logo of Times Now and the text Frankly speaking written on the screen. Taking a cue from this we conducted a Google Keyword Search and landed on a YouTube video dated May 9, 2014, titled: Frankly Speaking with Narendra Modi – Full Interview, published on the official YouTube channel of Times Now.
Looking closely at the full interview we can see the video keyframes starting at 20:49 match precisely with the viral video. At the 19th minute mark, Arnab asks Modi about the BJP’s manifesto. He asks why only persecuted Hindus will get shelter in India, not Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Muslims or Christians.
To this, Modi replies, “We believe that everyone who grew up in this country is our own people. According to the Supreme Court, Hinduism is not a religion, Hinduism is a way of life, you are talking about religion, we are following the Supreme Court. According to the Supreme Court, Hinduism is a way of life and neither Sikhs nor Buddhists are opposed to it.
Moving further, we came across the full transcript of the interview published in the Mumbai Mirror on May 8, 2014.
Reading the transcript it is clearly visible that this excerpt of the video has been edited and is now being widely shared in order to mock the PM.
Therefore, based on our investigation we can conclusively say that the viral video of PM Modi claiming that Hinduism is a way of life and not a religion, is edited and misleading.
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