This video shows an Indian actress performing a Hindu ritual dance, not a Muslim lawmaker
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 14, 2019 at 09:15
- 2 min read
- By AFP India
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The three-minute and 16-second video was published here in a Facebook post on October 14, 2019.
It has been viewed more than 23,000 times.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading Facebook post:
The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “Wonderful, Member of Parliament Nusrat Jahan.”
Nusrat Jahan is an actor-turned-politician who became an MP for Basirhat in May 2019, representing the All India Trinamool Congress.
The video was also shared alongside a similar claim here, here, here and here on Facebook; and here on Twitter.
The claim is false; the woman in the video is Indian film actress Rashmi Mishra.
A search on Google by keywords “Dhunuchi dance” found the same video was published here on YouTube on October 6, 2019.
The video’s title states: “Amazing Dhunuchi Naach 2019 by Rashmi Mishra in PBWA, Mumbai.”
“Naach” is a Hindi word which translates to English as “dance”. “Dhunuchi Naach” refers to a ritual Hindu dance, as described in this report.
In the top left-hand corner of the video, an orange sign with the words “Hiranandani Gardens, Powai” can be seen. It refers to a residential township in Powai area of northeastern Mumbai.
Below is a screenshot of the YouTube video with the sign circled by AFP:
“PBWA” refers to the Powai Bengali Welfare Association.
PBWA’s Twitter account tweeted this fact-check report by Indian media over the misleading claim about the identity of the woman in the dance video, tagging Mishra, on October 15, 2019.
— PBWA (@pbwadurgapujo) October 15, 2019
PBWA spokesperson Pratik Bhattacharya told AFP by phone on October 31, 2019, that the woman in the video was actress Mishra.
“The video is from this year’s Durga Puja and it features actress Rashmi Mishra and not MP Nusrat Jahan,” he said.
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