On May 30, propagandist posing as ‘fact-checker’ and co-founder of AltNews Mohammed Zubair yet again shared a cropped video of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader K Annamalai, to satisfy his vested interests. Sharing a tweet by AltNews ‘journalist’ Abhishek in which he had claimed that Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Annamalai said BJP worker Jadeja helped CSK win, Zubair supported the false claims. In the 9-second video shared by Abhishek, only one line said by Annamalai was there without any context or background of the entire conversation.
Script by @niiravmodi 😒 ⁉️ https://t.co/BhRU72CTw5
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 30, 2023
In the 9 second cropped video, K Annamalai is heard saying that “Who made CSK win is a BJP Karyakarta. Jadeja is a BJP Karyakarta, his wife is a BJP MLA and he is from Gujarat”.
The insinuation of the video shared by the AltNews team, including Zubair, was that Annamalai, a BJP leader, was crediting a sporting win to BJP saying that cricketer Jadeja was a BJP karyakarta, his wife is a BJP MLA and that he was from Gujarat. To anyone listening, it would appear that Annamalai unilaterally credited a political party for a sporting victory. However, the truth was far from it, which is often the case when it comes to Mohammad Zubair and his cabal. The video used to mock Annamalai, who is a rising star in Tamil Nadu against the ruling party, DMK, which liberals support, was a clipped and edited one which did not show the true picture.
The truth behind the video
In a longer version shared by Netizens, it gets clearer that Annamalai was not claiming credit for the cricketing win of CSK. Annamalai was discussing Chennai Super Kings’ win at the Indian Premium League on News18 with its anchor Devapriyan R. During the discussion the anchor asked him about DMK’s claims that CSK’s win was a ‘victory of Dravidian model against Gujarat model’ that was a clear attempt of the Tamil Nadu’s ruling party to make the match a topic of politics. Several DMK supporters had used a similar line of thought on social media to attack BJP.
Annamalai when D stock journalist tried to claim CSK win as victory of Dravidian model: "Let me tell you. The man who scored the winning runs for CSK is a BJP Karyakarta, his wife is a BJP MLA from Gujarat.
— Cogito (@cogitoiam) May 30, 2023
There were more Tamils in Gujarat Titans than in CSK. But we are proud… pic.twitter.com/91wvwPxFl1
Responding to the comments, Annamalai pointed out that the winning runs in the match were scored by Jadeja whose wife is a BJP MLA from Gujarat and the player himself is a BJP Karyakarta. He said, “The man who scored the winning runs for CSK is a BJP Karyakarta, his wife is a BJP MLA from Gujarat. There were more Tamils in Gujarat Titans than in CSK. But we are proud of CSK for Dhoni. So tell your DMK ministers just like Jadeja, BJP Karyakartas will win 2024 TN as well”.
LKFC @zoo_bear sharing cropped video to spread misinformation against @annamalai_k ji.
— BALA (@erbmjha) May 30, 2023
DMK crony first provoked by stating that CSK win is a victory of Dravidian model against Gujarat Model.@annamalai_k ji replied, “The man who scored the winning runs for CSK is a BJP… pic.twitter.com/ryS66jaDJx
It is clear from the longer video that K Annamalai was not claiming credit for the CSK win in cricket. He was, in fact, countering the DMK’s assertions about claiming credit for the cricketing victory. Therefore, Zubair and his gang at AltNews essentially blamed K Annamalai for what DMK was claiming, thereby shifting the blame for the arrogance of DMK to BJP leader Annamalai.
“Fact-checker” Abhishek ‘laughed’ at rebuttals
Interestingly, when netizens repeatedly called out Abhishek for spreading misinformation and sharing cropped videos, he did not delete the tweet. Instead, he laughed at the rebuttals and called them “BJP’s footsoldiers”. He wrote, “Even IT cell footsoldiers can’t deny that he said so. Come better prepared next time.”
Even IT cell footsoldiers can't deny that he said so. Come better prepared next time. 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/CjzmlY2lAf
— Abhishek (@AbhishekSay) May 30, 2023
Furthermore, he shared a tweet by Tamil Nadu BJP where what Annamalai said as a response to the journalist was used as a quote. However, it is pertinent to note that here the case is not what Tamil Nadu BJP is using as a quote but what AltNews and its journalists are doing. They are using a cropped video without context to defame BJP’s top Tamil Nadu leader Annamalai who is gaining popularity in the state putting a dent on DMK’s hold in politics. The fact is that it was the journalist who asked a question about DMK claiming credit, that Annamalai responded by saying that these people are BJP, but ‘we celebrate some team even though there are no Tamils, and we celebrate because of Dhoni etc’.
Interestingly, AltNews is not the only one spreading misinformation about Annamalai. News portal The News Minute also published a misleading headline on the matter. In a report titled “‘BJP karyakarta helped CSK win’: Annamalai on Jadeja’s heroics in IPL final” while the portal has complete details of what made Annamalai say so, the headline told exactly similar to what Alt News journalist had said.
The same goes for The Indian Express, Financial Express, The Lallantop and others. All these portals have the same misleading headlines with a clear explanation of what happened during the interview.
Alt News’ Zubair shared a cropped video of Nupur Sharma
Alt News, especially Mohammed Zubair, has a history of sharing cropped and edited videos to spread anti-BJP and anti-Hindu propaganda. In May 2022, Zubair shared a cropped video of then-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma where she was replying to Tasleem Ahmed Rehmani’s derogatory comments on Bhagwan Shiv. Zubair used the cropped video to attack Sharma and made it look as if Sharma insulted Prophet Mohammed.
His video led to nationwide violence and Sharma was eventually suspended from BJP. Hindus including Kanhaiya Lal from Rajasthan and Umesh Kohle from Maharashtra were killed for supporting Sharma. She is still living under threat to his life while Rehmani, who instigated Sharma during the debate, is roaming free without any burden on his conscious.
