On 28th April, Delhi Police’s Special Cell filed an FIR in connection to the doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech regarding reservation issues on different social media platforms. As per reports, police may make some arrests soon in the matter. As per the FIR copy, it was registered based on the complaint filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs it found that some doctored videos were being circulated by users on social media platforms including X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
बड़ी ख़बर-
— abhishek upadhyay (@upadhyayabhii) April 28, 2024
गृह मंत्री अमित शाह के बयान को एडिट करके फ़र्ज़ी तरीक़े से उसे आरक्षण ख़त्म करने का बयान बनाकर सर्कुलेट करने वाले ट्विटर हैंडल्स पर FIR दर्ज़।
देश भर में ऐसे ट्विटर हैंडल्स चलाने वाले इसकी ज़द में आयेंगे।
गिरफ़्तारियाँ जल्द।
जिन्होंने फैलाकर फिर डरकर डिलीट किया है… pic.twitter.com/gfPL8gmi9q
The FIR has been registered under Sections 153, 153A, 465, 469 and 171G of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66C of the IT Act. The video was doctored, spreading misleading information to create disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquility and public order issues, the MHA said in its complaint. It read, “Regarding registration of FIR Please find the enclosed report wherein it has been found that some doctored videos are being circulated by users of Facebook and Twitter. The video seems to be doctored spreading misleading information with the intention of creating disharmony among communities which is likely to affect public tranquility and public order issues. The links of videos are in enclosed report.”
Notably, on 23rd April 2023, HM Shah had said at the “Vijay Sankalp Sabha” that if the BJP comes into power in Telangana, “unconstitutional Muslim reservation would be abolished”. He had said, “I want to say this if the BJP forms a government then this unconstitutional Muslim reservation will be abolished. These rights belong to SC, ST and OBC and it will be given to them by abolishing Muslim reservation,” Amit Shah said.
As per the ANI report, the MHA attached a detailed report of the links and handles that shared the doctored videos of HM Shah on social media. Following the FIR, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the special cell now started the investigation.
The doctored video was made to propagate as if BJP would remove reservation
On 27th April, the official X account of Telangana Congress shared a doctored video of HM Shah falsely claiming that he promised to end reservations for SC, ST and OBC communities. In a post in Telugu, it said, “Brothers and sisters who are in the BJP, belong to the SC, ST, OBC minority and are doing politics in the name of religion, please watch this video and take a decision whether to vote for the BJP. Let’s teach Amit Shah, Narendra Modi’s BJP party a proper lesson for saying that they will remove the reservations of SC, ST, OBC and minorities if they come back to power with pride and arrogance while enjoying the fruits of reservation given by the Constitution of India. Remove BJP from power…Save the country. Let us protect the rights given to us by the Constitution. The Constitution of India should flourish.”
The video was doctored in a way that showed HM Shah saying, “If BJP government comes to power, it will remove unconstitutional reservation given to SC, ST and OBC”. However, In reality, the Union Home Minister had vowed to end unconstitutional reservation for the Muslim community and give it to the SC, ST and OBCs. It was an old video before Telangana Assembly Elections in April 2023.
Though Telangana Congress removed the post from X after the backlash, the video is still available as a reel on Telangana Youth Congress’s official Facebook profile.
Ironically, before posting the doctored video, Telangana Youth Congress shared a post suggesting they have filed a police complaint against “BJP’s Sri Rishi Bagri, Arun Pudur and Ajit Bharati for distorting our leader Sri Rahul Gandhi ji’s video and spreading false information on social media platforms”.
The doctored video seems to have been created by an X user Dabangyogi who deactivated his account after FIR was registered in the matter. Several X handles praised the handle for sharing the video.
In a post before deactivating his account, the handle “praised himself” as his doctored video was going viral.
In another post, he expressed his happiness as right-wing accounts were busy fact-checking his video.
The account was later deactivated after an FIR was filed for the doctored video.
X user Pooja Sangwan shared a thread on the handle suggesting that the person behind the handle was a serial offender. He had created a doctored video of BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena apart from HM Shah.
Thread 🧵
— Pooja Sangwan ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@ThePerilousGirl) April 28, 2024
This @/dabangyogi user id on X (formerly twitter) made an edited video of BJP leader Kirodi Lal Meena @DrKirodilalBJP and HM Amit Shah @AmitShah
Cc : @BJP4India @amitmalviya pic.twitter.com/ymyGXVdNqH
Furthermore, he linked former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnan’s old statements with the BJP. The reality was, that when Krishnan made those statements, he was with Congress.
After getting reach and being noticed by Congress IT cell he recieved a great support from Congress IT cell and big Congress personalities. pic.twitter.com/SzKAkkx1v3
— Pooja Sangwan ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@ThePerilousGirl) April 28, 2024
Pooja pointed out that after Dabangyogi’s video went viral, Congress-linked handles amplified it not only on social media but also on messenger apps like WhatsApp.
Congress IT cell circulated these altered videos through WhatsApp and other social media.
— Pooja Sangwan ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@ThePerilousGirl) April 28, 2024
In pic 1 you can see he is boasting over such circulation. pic.twitter.com/i8XvzC4lPe
Congress supporter “Activist Sandeep” continued to amplify fearmongering on reservations. In a post he said, “I belong to the Chamaar caste. I would like to tell Dalits that as soon as Modi comes to power this time, he will prepare a ground to end reservation for Dalits. Write this down. Cast one vote against Modi and two votes to save reservation, Rahul Gandhi will come and increase reservation! Note: I am getting information that the Home Ministry has filed an FIR against me. Whatever it is, it will be fought. I would like to tell the writers that I am not afraid, my leader is Rahul Gandhi!”
Pro-Congress X user Nidhi Singh Rathore indulged in fearmongering and shared an old unrelated video saying, “Dalits must watch this video before voting for Modi.. Despite reservation, poor people of lower castes were made to drink water from shoes. If BJP ends reservation, to what extent will these people commit atrocities…?” The persons in the video shared by her belonged to the same caste. It was a two-year-old case where a man was forced to drink urine for having an affair with a married woman.
Jharkhand Congress had the video on its social media handle even after getting debunked.
The case was the same with “Congress Sevadal” accounts.
HM Shah hit out at Congress over doctored video
On 28th April, Home Minister Amit Shah called out Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party for deceiving people by spewing baseless lies. Reacting to Congress’s statement where they claimed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would abolish reservation if it came back to power, Home Minister Shah said that the BJP has been in power with the full majority for ten years, if the party had any plan to abolish reservation, it would have done it long back. Notably, Congress used a fake, edited video of HM Shah to make the false claims.
Amit Shah said, “Rahul Gandhi is deceiving people by telling baseless lies. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been in power in this country for 10 years, forming a government with full majority both times. If the BJP intended to abolish reservations, it would have done so already. Narendra Modi has assured all Dalits, backward classes, and tribal sisters and brothers across the nation that as long as the BJP is in power, no one will touch reservations.”
Assuring everyone that BJP would not let anything happen to the reservations, Home Minister Shah said, “Today, I want to tell the people of the country that the Congress party has always attacked the reservations for SC/ST/OBC. When their government came to Karnataka, they cut 4% for minority reservations. Whose reservation got cut? OBCs.”
“Even today, SC/ST/OBC reservations are not allowed at Jamia Millia and Aligarh Universities. The sole reason for this is Congress’s policy towards SC/ST/OBC. They have always opposed the backward society, ignored Baba Saheb Ambedkar, and never worked to deliver justice to the tribals. Narendra Modi is the one who worked to deliver justice to the tribals by appointing Droupadi Murmu as the President. I want to remind the people of the country once again of Modi’s guarantee that as long as the BJP is in politics, there will be no harm to SC/ST/OBC reservations. This is Modi’s guarantee,” said Amit Shah.
Doctored videos, fake videos and AI-generated videos have become a nuisance on social media platforms. As Lok Sabha Elections are underway, several such videos regularly surface on social media and messaging platforms.
