Posts claiming Indian Muslim politician performed Hindu ritual share AI-generated video
- Published on January 7, 2026 at 10:25
- 2 min read
- By Akshita KUMARI, AFP India
Prominent Indian Muslim lawmaker Asaduddin Owaisi has repeatedly been targeted in false claims circulating on social media. The latest includes fake footage that appears to show him taking part in a ritual at a Hindu temple. The clip bears the watermark of Google's AI tool, and shows visual inconsistencies that are hallmarks of fabricated visuals.
"It seems he has found his ancestral roots," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on December 4, 2025 to a profile with more than 27,000 followers.
The attached 16-second video appears to show Owaisi, surrounded by a crowd, performing religious rituals in front of a Hindu idol.
Owaisi is one of the few Muslim lawmakers in Hindu-majority India who has repeatedly criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked other false claims targeting him.
While India's Muslims make up a little under a sixth of its 1.4 billion population, Muslim representatives in parliament have almost halved to less than five percent since the 1970s (archived link).
Critics and rights groups have accused the Modi-led BJP and its supporters of ramping up rhetoric against Muslims since the Hindu nationalist party came to power in 2014 (archived link).
The clip surfaced in similar Facebook, Instagram, Threads and X posts where comments from users indicated they believed the video was genuine.
One user wrote: "Things that politics makes us do. Gosh."
"Jai Shri Ram, he has learnt about his ancestors," another user commented, using a popular religious chant among India's Hindu-majority population.
Fake footage
But the star-shaped watermark of Google's Gemini tool can be seen at the video's bottom right corner, indicating it was made using the tech giant's AI model (archived link).
At the beginning of the video, Owaisi appears on the right, facing the idol on the left, but then their positions appear to change despite the camera angle remaining the same.
Other visual inconsistencies are also signs the video is fabricated, such as the crowd being unnaturally still and the distorted Hindi text in the background.
Juned Khan, head of the legal cell of Owaisi's All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Party, said the video is fake.
"Strict action must be taken against those responsible for such activity and those spreading rumours," he told AFP on December 15.
AFP has previously debunked other false claims involving AI-generated content.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
