VHP Leader’s Video Used to Claim Naseeruddin Shah’s Kin Is Pro-CAA

He is VHP Leader Acharya Dharmendra and not Naseeruddin Shah’s brother Rizwan Ahmed.

The man in the video is VHP Leader Acharya Dharmendra and not Naseeruddin Shah’s brother Rizwan Ahmed.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Actor Naseeruddin Shah has been vocal about his rage against the violence and vilification that students, who have been at the forefront of countrywide protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, have been subjected to.

CLAIM

Now, a viral video on the internet claims that the man seen in the video is Rizwan Ahmed, Naseeruddin Shah’s brother, and supports CAA. In the video, the man can be heard saying that no Muslim has ever faced any difficulty in India and they have been placed at highest of positions through the years.

“Prime Minister and Home Minister kept saying that it is only for the infiltrators. The people who are protesting against it, do they want that we should give citizenship to all the terrorists coming in from Pakistan?” he adds.

The claim along with the video reads: ‘रिज़वान अहमद (नसीरुद्दीन शाह का भाई) का ये वीडियो सुनने वाला है कि जिसने इतनी सच्चाई से बोला है जो आज तक किसी ने नहीं बोला’ (Translated: You should listen to Rizwan Ahmed’s (Naseeruddin Shah’s brother) video who, with such honesty, has said something that nobody has ever said.)

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ Screengrab)

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/ Screengrab)

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/ Screengrab)

The Quint received a query about the claim made in the video on its WhatsApp helpline.

TRUE OR FALSE?

The claim with which the video has been shared is false. While the video has not been manipulated in any manner, the man seen in the video is not Naseeruddin Shah’s brother Rizwan Ahmed. Instead, he is VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

In the video, we could see a logo of ‘Youth Media TV,’ and thus, searched for the video on their YouTube channel.

The video was uploaded on their handle on 2 January with the caption: ‘आईआईटी कानपुर में आज लगे नारे,क्या देश का माहौल ख़राब किया जा रहा है? IIT-Kanpur Faiz poem News today’ (Translated: Slogans were raised in IIT Kanpur today, is the situation of the country being maligned? IIT-Kanpur Faiz poem News today)

‘Youth Media TV’ confirmed to The Quint that the man seen in the video is not Naseeruddin Shah’s brother Rizwan Ahmed, however, they didn’t know who the man actually is.

“He is not Naseeruddin Shah’s brother. He is Maharaj ji from Ayodhya who had come to support CAA at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. He was asked about a question related to protest that took place in IIT Kanpur and Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poem was recited.”

A local Faizabad reporter identified the man as VHP leader Acharya Dharmendra and confirmed that he is not related to Naseeruddin Shah in any manner.

We found a Times Now bulletin wherein Rizwan Ahmed had featured and can be seen on the first row of panelists in the rightmost corner (next to BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra)

We drew a comparison between images of the man seen in the video, Rizwan Ahmed and Acharya Dharmendra and found that the man in the video is indeed Acharya Dharmendra.

First: Man seen in the viral video. Second: Rizwan Ahmed. Third: Acharya Dharmendra.(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Thus, a video of a VHP leader supporting CAA is being used to propagate the false claim that Naseeruddin Shah’s brother Rizwan Ahmed was speaking in support of CAA.

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