Posts falsely claim 'Allah' removed from Hindu hymn played at G20

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 5, 2023 at 12:11
Updated on October 5, 2023 at 13:08
2 min read
By Uzair RIZVI, AFP India

Footage of world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit with a Hindu hymn playing in the background has surfaced in posts falsely claiming the word "Allah" was removed from the song. The posts, which circulated in Hindu-majority India, celebrated the purported omission of the Arabic word for God. However, a longer version of the video shows the word "Allah" featured in the song.

"Great Modi, thanks for allowing Indians to listen to the correct Hindu hymn from Raj Ghat," reads a Hindi-language post on X, formerly known as Twitter, from September 12.

The Raj Ghat is a memorial in New Delhi dedicated to Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, the apostle of nonviolence who spearheaded passive resistance by millions of Indians against the British Raj, winning independence for the country in 1947.

The post -- which was shared by a member of India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) -- adds: "Every Hindu thanks you from the bottom of their heart. Listen carefully, the word 'Allah' has been removed and the correct hymn is playing. 'What more could you ask for?"

The BJP has been denounced by rights groups for increased discrimination and violence towards India's Muslim minority (archived link).

The video shows world leaders laying wreaths at the Raj Ghat -- which they visited during the G20 summit in September -- with the Hindu hymn "Raghupati Raghav Rajaram", which was a favourite of Gandhi's, playing in the background (archived link).

Screenshot of the false post taken on September 26, 2023.

Similar Facebook posts shared the same video here and here.

A keyword search on Google found a video of world leaders visiting the Raj Ghat posted to Modi's official YouTube channel on September 10 (archived link).

"Raghupati Raghav Rajaram" can be heard at the video's 06:50 mark. The word "Allah" can be heard at the 07:41 mark.

The Hindi lyrics in that part of the song translate as: "Ishwar and Allah are your name / May God give all of us wisdom / Praise King Ram, Lord of the Raghu dynasty / Praise Sitaram, who purifies even the sinners."

A livestream of the event by the Indian Prime Minister Office's official YouTube channel also shows the hymn played in full, with the word "Allah" (archived link).

The full hymn can also be heard in footage of the event at Gandhi's memorial uploaded by Indian public broadcaster Doordarshan (archived link).

October 5, 2023 Added a line in paragraph 10

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