Clip of Indian Muslim politician 'reciting Hindu hymn' digitally manipulated

The doctored clip was shared here on Facebook on March 10, 2024. It appeared to show politician Asaduddin Owaisi, who is Muslim, chanting a prayer dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva.

Owaisi -- a prominent critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist politics -- is seeking a seat in parliament in southern Hyderabad city (archived link).

He is facing Kompella Madhavi Latha from Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in elections starting from April 19 (archived link).

"BJP candidate Dr. Kompelle Madhavi Lata's Effect. Listen to the Shiva hymn from Asaduddin Owaisi," reads part of the caption to the doctored clip, written in the Telugu language widely spoken in southern India.

"Hindus, if you want to see a change in Hyderabad then make BJP win," the caption adds.

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Screenshot of the Facebook post with the doctored clip, taken March 21, 2024

The doctored clip was also shared in similar posts on social media platform X here and here.

Digitally altered video

A reverse image search of keyframes on Google found Owaisi's original speech uploaded here on the verified YouTube channel of Indian media outlet News 18 Urdu on October 26, 2022 (archived link).

According to the video's description, Owaisi was addressing a public meeting in Bijapur city in southern Karnataka state during municipal body elections at the time.

Nowhere in the video did Owaisi recite a Hindu hymn. Instead, he is heard asking voters to help his party win the local elections.

The portion of his speech that had been manipulated corresponds to the 48:20 to 48:37 mark of the YouTube video. 

Below is a screenshot comparison of corresponding frames in the manipulated clip circulating online (left) and from Owaisi's full speech uploaded on News 18 Urdu's YouTube channel (right):

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The same speech was also uploaded here on Owaisi's official Facebook on October 26, 2022 (archived link).

A separate search on Google, using keywords from the Hindu hymn, found the audio that had been inserted onto Owaisi's speech was published here on YouTube on April 20, 2020 (archived link).

The video's title reads, "Shiv Tandav Stotram by Arvind Trivedi -- Lankesh who Played Ravan in Ramayan TV Serial".

It shows Arvind Trivedi, an actor-turned-BJP politician who died in 2021, chanting the "Shiva Tandava Strotam" Sanskrit language prayer to Hindu deity Shiva.

Sayed Asim Waqar, the spokesman for Owaisi's party All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, told AFP on March 14 the video was "fake".

"We will deal with such matters legally in future," he said.

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