Claim: “Modi Modi” slogans were raised in favor of the indian Prime Minister during the 27th session of the National Assembly.
Fact: Parliamentarians raised “voting voting” slogans in the 27th session of the National Assembly, and the slogans mentioning Modi were not in his support, but rather to denounce any allegiance to the Indian Prime Minister.
On October 28, a video clip claiming to be from the Balochistan Assembly’s session went viral on Indian social media. Claims accompanying the video said that parliamentarians in Pakistan chanted slogans in favor of Modi, to take a stance against the Federal Government. Several social media users from India contributed to the narrative that this happened not only to disrupt Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s speech but to declare support for Modi in the context of seeking an independent Balochistan.
Although chants regarding Modi were raised during the session, Soch Fact Check found the claim that they were in favor of the Indian Prime Minister, to be false.
The video is actually from the 27th session of the National Assembly held on Oct 26 where Shah Mehmood Qureshi delivered a speech regarding the resurgence of sketches deemed blasphemous by the Pakistani Government. Even though the clip is captioned as ‘National Assembly,’ many Indian media outlets and social media personalities claimed that it was from the Balochistan Assembly. Shah Mahmood Qureshi also initiated a resolution condemning the sketches and ordering the withdrawal ofthe Pakistani envoy from Paris. However, while he was speaking, Opposition members erupted in slogans of “voting, voting”, referring to a resolution presented by Khwaja Asif on the same matter.
This can be confirmed from the fact that Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri responded to these chants by assuring that “voting will happen”. In response, Qureshi lashed out, berating the opposition for chanting slogans and using such a serious issue for political gain. Dawn also reported on this issue, adding that Qureshi accused them of peddling “India’s narrative” as slogans for Balochistan’s independence were also raised. After this, another slogan that mentioned Modi was raised – “Modi ka jo yaar hai, ghaddar hai, ghaddar hai” [translation: Those who are friendly with Modi are traitors]. However, this slogan was clearly raised to deny any allegiance to the Indian Prime Minister. No slogans raised in favor of Modi in the Pakistani parliament.
Since the “voting, voting” chants were audibly somewhat similar to “Modi, Modi”, several mainstream Indian news media platforms such as Times Now News and India TV reported this issue in a different light.
Rajat Sharma conducted an entire segment on India TV claiming that due to people’s dissatisfaction from the government’s actions in Balochistan a call for independence was accompanied by chants “hailing” Modi. Indian social media users, including BJP Leader Tajinder Bagga and Shobha Karandlaje took to Twitter and Facebook and extensively shared the video with captions corroborating this narrative and emphasizing the disrespect that it means for Pakistan.
Times Now later deleted the tweet which shared their report on the matter. An archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Background
On Wednesday October 22, French President Emmanuel Macron defended cartoons of Prophet Muhammad published by Charlie Hebdo which are considered blasphemous by many Muslims, as well as by the Pakistani government. On 16 October 2020, school teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by a Muslim man, after Paty displayed these sketches in a class about freedom of expression.
Following this incident, the caricatures were projected onto the facade of a building and used in protests across France this week. Several Muslim countries have recorded their discontent regarding this act, declaring it Islamophobic. Pakistan’s Foreign Office also summoned the French ambassador to register the government’s stance on this matter.
Summary: Viral video claiming ‘Modi, Modi’ chants echoed the Pakistan National Assembly is false, as the sloganeers actually said, “voting, voting.” Indian news media used this clip out of context to imply that Pakistani opposition parties displayed allegiance to Modi during PTI Foriegn Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s speech.