Indian opposition candidate was not filmed calling late Muslim emperor his 'brother'

"Aurangzeb was our brother who sacrificed for Mother India...he is teaching a new history about the murderer of Hindus. This guy is a disgrace to the name of Hindus," read part of the Hindi-language caption in a Facebook post shared on November 6. 

The post included a clip with overlaid text that read "Aurangzeb is my brother - Uddhav Thackeray. It will be remembered while voting."

Aurangzeb was an emperor of the Mughal dynasty, a Muslim empire that ruled most of northern India from the 16th to mid-18th century (archived links here and here). 

His name and legacy have been invoked by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Hindu nationalist politicians before to depict Muslims as oppressors (archived link). 

Thackeray can be heard in the clip as saying "He has sacrificed for the country. Now if I say that he was my brother, you will say, 'But do you know the name?' His name was Aurangzeb. He might have been a Muslim by religion. But he sacrificed for his country." 

Image

Screenshot of the false post taken on November 6, 2024

The same video has been shared alongside a similar false claim on Facebook and X. 

The post surfaced weeks before the legislative assembly election in the western state of Maharashtra on November 20.

Thackeray's party Shiv Sena (UBT) has teamed up with an opposition bloc that hopes to unseat the state's ruling coalition led by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) (archived link). 

Thackeray has claimed that his party -- previously known for its hardline anti-Muslim stance -- now enjoys the support of the Muslim community (archived links here and here).

But a longer version of the footage shows him referring to an Indian soldier killed by militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, not a Muslim emperor.

Soldier, not emperor

A reverse image search of keyframes on Google found a longer version of the video published on Thackeray's official Facebook account on February 19, 2023 (archived link). 

The post's caption in Marathi read: "Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray party head Hon. Mr. Uddhavji Thackeray's discussion session with North Indian people. Andheri - LIVE."

The clip in the false post corresponds to the longer video's 32-minute 18-second mark.

"Our soldier in Kashmir was going home after taking leave to meet his family when the terrorists came to know that he was going alone after taking leave, they kidnapped him in the middle for beheading," he said in the clip.

He went on to say, "A few days later, his mutilated body was found somewhere. Was he ours or not, who had sacrificed for the country? Now if I say that he was my brother, you will say, 'But do you know his name?' His name was Aurangzeb. It would happen, wouldn't it? He might have been a Muslim by religion. But he sacrificed for his country." 

"He even gave his life for what is called Mother India. Was he not our brother? He was our brother," he added.

Thackeray was referring to the Indian soldier Aurangzeb who was abducted and killed by militants in the Shopian district in southern Kashmir in July 2018 on his way home to celebrate Eid with his family (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip shared in the false post (left) and the video from Thackeray's official Facebook account (right):

Image

Screenshot comparison of the clip shared in false post (left) and the video from Thackeray's official Facebook account (right)

Indian news outlet ABP MAJHA shared footage of Thackeray's full comments on its YouTube channel on February 19, 2023 (archived link). 

Image