As an Indian minister was criticized for his “disrespectful” comments on Bhimrao Ambedkar – one of the architects of India's constitution – a clipped video was shared with a false claim it is ' shows an opposition figure insulting Ambedkar. The original video from 2012 shows the comments by Arvind Kejriwal – leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – taken out of context, and that he was actually referring to the right -written by another opposition group, not India. constitution.
“No one has insulted the author of the constitution Baba Saheb Bhimrao Ambedkar to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal,” read a post in Hindi language. divided on Facebook on December 24, 2024.
“He is saying that Baba Saheb wrote the constitution under the influence of alcohol. Arvind Kejriwal should first apologize and explain the entire statement why he made such an accusation and insulted on Bharat Ratna Baba Saheb,” the post said.
Ambedkar, a champion of civil justice for the socially marginalized Dalit community, was one of the main architects of the Indian constitution. His followers referred to him as Baba Saheb.
The post also included a nine-second black and white video showing Kejriwal speaking in Hindi: “So we were sitting together and someone was saying that whoever wrote the original must statute to be written after consuming alcohol.”
Screenshot of the fake post, taken on December 25, 2024
The clip was circulated after opposition politicians – including Kejriwal – said Indian Home Minister Amit Shah references about Ambedkar on December 18, 2024 was “disrespectful” (archive link).
Speaking at a debate on the constitution in parliament, Shah said: “It has become a fashion to say Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar, Ambedkar. If they had taken God's name so often, they would have found a place in heaven.”
Comments from users indicate that they believed the claim to be true.
One user wrote: “Kejriwal is a chameleon, see how he used to talk about Baba Saheb Ambedkar.”
“Kejriwal should be arrested for saying derogatory things about Ambedkar”, wrote another.
But the original video shows that the AAP leader was actually mocking the constitution of the Indian National Congress party.
Video is cut
A reverse image search on Google found a longer and colorized version of the video has been uploaded on AAP's official YouTube channel on December 3, 2012 (archive link).
Its description said it shows Kejriwal addressing a public rally on November 25, 2012 in Delhi, one day before the party's official launch. launched (archive link).
Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the fake posts (left) and the video uploaded on the AAP's YouTube channel (right):
A screenshot comparison of the clip shared in fake posts (left) and the video uploaded on AAP's YouTube channel (right)
The AAP leader says at the 4:21 video tag: “The constitutions of other parties are lies, they do not implement theirs. During this time, I have read the contracts of all the parties. There is -Congress party statute states that no congressman shall drink alcohol.
He is then shown making the comments in the fake video, before criticizing other parties' deals while outlining his party's agenda.
AFP published his archive photo of Kejriwal on November 25, 2012 showing him at the rally wearing the same shirt (archive link).
