Claim: A video on social media shows a Pakistani man called Asif Zardari, praising Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and asking Indian Muslims to support him.
Fact: The claim is false as it is a staged video by an Indian “artist”, Dhirendra Raghav from Agra, who role-plays as multiple political figures in his videos, possibly as a form of satire.
On 27 March 2024, X (formerly Twitter) user posted a video with the caption, “Pakistani Muslim’s message to the Mullahs of India”. The over-a-minute-long video depicts a cap-clad man in a car who introduces himself as Asif Zardari from Pakistan and addresses Indian Muslims in the video. He goes on to highlight the economic obstacles and hardships that Pakistanis face during the holy month of Ramazan, comparing them to those in India. While asserting that there is no better country than India, he asks Indians to attack Pakistan and take control of the country.
The video features text overlaid in Hindi, which reads, “This is a Muslim from Pakistan, Pakistani Asif Zardari,” along with an emoji of the Pakistani flag.
The post on X (formerly Twitter) was shared ahead of the 2024 general elections in India. In the clip, Indian Muslims are advised to support Indian Prime Minister Modi, who is described as a “very good” leader.
Fact or Fiction?
To investigate, Soch Fact Check reverse-image-searched the keyframes of the video on InVID. The results led to an Instagram video posted by the user “@bhurajraghav” on 29 March 2024. In this video, the audio reflects the username “@dhirendra_raghav_79”.
Taking a cue from this, Soch Fact Check found the verified Instagram account of the original creator of the video, Dhirendra Raghav, who is an “artist” as per his Instagram bio. The account carries staged videos, similar to the viral claim.
Screenshots of the Indian artist’s Instagram account
The profile also contains a link to his Facebook page, which again mentions that he is an “Artist” from Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The video in question can be found on the artist’s Facebook and Instagram pages, shared with the following caption when translated from Hindi into English: “There is no one like Prime Minister Modi”.
After observing and inspecting the content on the profiles, Soch Fact Check found that most videos show the same individual playing different characters within the setting of a car or an urban cityscape. In many of his videos, he adopts names of political figures like Saddam Hussein and Asif Zardari, likely as a form of satire or tongue-in-cheek humour.
Virality
The staged video was shared as a real testimony by Indian news outlet Indian TV here on YouTube.
It was also posted here and here on Facebook and here on Instagram.
On X, the now-deleted video received 19,900 views, 714 likes and 350 reposts. It can be seen here and here.
Conclusion: The video of a Pakistani advising Indian Muslims to support Prime Minister Modi before the Lok Sabha elections is a staged video by an Indian “artist”, Dhirendra Raghav.
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Background image in cover photo: Getty Images
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