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This Viral Video Shows Rishi Sunak Worshiping Cow After Becoming PM? No, Viral Claim Is Misleading
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 31 Oct 2022 11:25 AM GMT
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As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
THe viral video of Rishi Sunak worshipping a cow was take in August 2022, when he visited Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with his wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami. He became the Prime Minister on 25 October 2022.
Rishi Sunak became the Prime Minister of Britain after the dramatic exit of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss from the prime ministerial position of Britain. Rishi is being appreciated by Hindus for openly promoting his religious belief. One such video is going viral on social media. In the viral video, Rishi and his wife Akshata Murty can be seen worshipping a cow on the instruction of a priest standing beside them. While sharing this video, people on social media claimed that he offered prayers to a cow after taking oath of the Prime Minister's post.
Claim:
A Twitter user shared this video and wrote a caption in Hindi which reads, "इंग्लैंड में बज रहा है हिन्दुत्व का डंका। प्रधानमंत्री ऋषि सुनक गाय का पूजन करते हुए। #जय_हिन्दुत्व."
[English Translation: Hindutva is rising in England. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak worshiping a cow. #Jai_Hindutva.]
A Facebook page named Citymirrornews who has more than 90k followers shared this video and wrote, "भारतीय मूल निवासी ऋषि सुनक ने ब्रिटेन के प्रधानमंत्री पद पर विराजमान होने के बाद की गाय की पूजा , इस दौरान उनकी धर्म पत्नी भी रही साथ इसे कहते है हमारी संस्कृति. मानना पड़ेगा उनकी माता पिता को जो यह परंपरा निभाई निभाते आए."
[English Translation: Indian origin Rishi Sunak worshiped cow after sitting on the post of Prime Minister of Britain, during this time his religious wife was also there, it is called our culture. Will have to admire his parents who kept following the tradition.]
It is being widely shared on social media with a similar claim.
Claim:
Viral video shows Rishi Sunak worshipping a cow after becoming the Prime Minister.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral video is from August 2022 when he was not the Prime Minister.
During the initial investigation, we used InVid's Keyframe analysis tool to break down the viral video into its keyframes. It led us to a video report of OneIndia dated 26 August 2022 in which similar footage can be seen. According to the report, Sunak was worshipping a cow on the occasion of Janmashtami at Bhaktivedanta Manor Hare Krishna temple. It is to be noted that Rishi Sunak was the PM candidate during that time and was campaigning for the post. He became the Prime Minister on 25 October 2022.
On searching more, we also found the stills of the same event on a Facebook page of Bhaktivedanta Manor temple. In these photos, Rishi Sunak and his wife can be seen posing with the cow and other people seen in the viral video. The caption the post reads, "As the two day Janmashtami festival approaches at Bhaktivedanta Manor, we were honoured to have Rishi Sunak visit today to deliver his well-wishes and gratitude to all the 1,500 volunteers for all their hard work over the festival period. He said that through challenging times the Bhagavad Gita has given him the strength to continue and likewise, all the volunteers at Bhaktivedanta Manor who are helping during the Janmashtami festival will give strength, encouragement and inspiration to tens of thousands of visitors who will join the festivities tomorrow and on Sunday. Sunak gave Bhaktivedanta Manor and ISKCON a heartfelt thank you and was very grateful for all the work, messages and teachings we give to others."
We then compared the stills from viral video with the photos shared by Bhaktivedanta Manor on their facebook page and found that both the stills are same. Below you can see the comparision.
Rishi Sunak also tweeted about his visit to Bhaktivedanta Manor Temple on 18 August 2022. According to it, he visted Bhaktivedanta Manor temple to celebrate Janmashtami. The caption of the tweet reads, "Today I visited the Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with my wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami, in advance of the popular Hindu festival celebrating Lord Krishna's birthday."
It is evident from our investigation that the viral video of Rishi Sunak worshiping a cow was taken in August 2022, when he visited Bhaktivedanta Manor temple with his wife Akshata to celebrate Janmashtami. He became the Prime Minister on 25 October 2022. Hence, the viral claim is misleading.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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