New Delhi leader filmed apologising for school ceremony gaffe, not for using Hindu slogan

"When Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party minister Atishi Marlena started her speech with Jai Shri Ram during her visit to Shri Ram Colony, Muslims in the crowd got up and created a ruckus saying 'why did you chant Jai Shri Ram'? Atishi had to immediately apologise to Muslims," read a Hindi-language post on Facebook on September 23, 2024.

The phrase "Jai Shri Ram" is often associated with Hindutva -- an ideology propagated by Hindu-hardliner groups that promotes Hindu nationalism and supremacy in India (archived link).

The one-minute, 11-second video begins with a clip of people who appeared to be wearing prayer caps commonly worn by Muslims interrupting the new Delhi Chief Minister Atishi -- who goes by one name -- mid-speech with shouts of "this is Shri Ram colony". She then says, "I would like to apologise".

The clip is followed by another video of a woman who urges Hindus to unite against Muslims.

Atishi took over as Delhi chief minister from prominent opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who stepped down in September after being accused of corruption (archived links here and here). 

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Screenshot of the false post, taken September 25, 2024.

The same video was shared alongside similar claims elsewhere on X and Facebook.

Social media users left comments targeting Muslims on the post. 

"Since when did taking the names of Hindu deities become a crime?" one wrote.

Another said: "Muslim appeasement has crippled the Delhi government."

But Atishi was in fact apologising to the crowd for neglecting to mention the name of the neighbourhood where a school she was inaugurating was located. She did not chant "Jai Shri Ram" during the event in March.

Out of context video

A keyword search on Google led to a live broadcast uploaded to the YouTube channel of Delhi's Directorate of Education on March 9, 2024 (archived link). The video features a similar stage and backdrop as the one seen in the circulating clip.

An AAP press release from March 9, 2024, states that Atishi, Delhi's education minister at the time, inaugurated a new school in northeast Delhi's Shriram Colony neighbourhood (archived link). 

The video is titled "Inauguration of a grand school in North East Delhi, Sarvodaya Kanya/Bal Vidyalaya, Khajoori Khas", and Atishi's speech begins at the 32-minute, 12-second mark.

At no point in her speech does she chant "Jai Shri Ram". 

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the video uploaded on YouTube (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false posts (left) and the video uploaded on YouTube (right)

The video's 41-minute, six-second mark shows Atishi saying, "Before this new government school was built, our children were studying in very small classrooms", while the crowd can be heard shouting in the background. 

She then stops to ask the crowd what happened and asks them to sit down. 

A councillor for the Shri Ram Colony then appears and tells Atishi that the school is located in his neighbourhood and to "please say Shri Ram Colony" instead of Khajuri Khas, the name of the surrounding town.

At the 41-minute, 40-second mark of the video, Atishi addresses the crowd and says: "I would like to apologise to the residents of Shri Ram Colony, this is the school of Shri Ram Colony where children of Khajuri Khas and Karawal Nagar neighbourhood will also study." 

Mohammad Amil Malik, the councillor seen correcting Atishi in the video, confirmed the claim circulating with the video on social media was false. 

"Atishi forgot to mention the name of the locality of the school in her speech, so residents of Shri Ram Colony got angry," he told AFP on September 25, adding she rectified her mistake after he informed her of it.

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