New Delhi: Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait has been facing criticism from BJP leaders, after videos of him saying “Allahu Akbar” at a kisan mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh went viral on social media.
In the videos, which are less than 20 seconds long, Tikait can be heard saying: “If such a government comes into power, they will work to cause riots. Earlier when Tikait sahib (his father Mahendra Tikait) was there, we used to chant slogans… Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.” The slogans are then echoed by the crowd at the mahapanchayat, which was held in Muzaffarnagar Sunday.
Several prominent BJP leaders such as Sunil Yadav, vice-president of the party’s Delhi wing, spokesperson Ajay Sehrawat and BJP Mahila Morcha’s social media in-charge Priti Gandhi shared the video on Twitter.
“But seriously, what has ‘Allah hu (sic) Akbar’ got to do with #FarmLaws???,” said Gandhi’s Sunday tweet, which has garnered over 3,000 likes and more than 1,000 retweets.
But seriously, what has "Allah hu Akbar" got to do with #FarmLaws??? pic.twitter.com/gGrdreYDrw
— Priti Gandhi – प्रीति गांधी (@MrsGandhi) September 5, 2021
Yadav, meanwhile, tweeted: “’Allahu Akbar’ slogans, instead of paying respect to farmers at #MuzaffarnagarPanchayat? What was the compulsion Tikait Sahab that instead of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, Akbar’s love is dripping from your mouth…. Appeal to the farmers of the country to stay away from the illusionists.”
#MuzaffarnagarPanchayat में किसानों को सम्मान देने की जगह “अल्लाह हु अकबर” के नारे?
आखिर टिकैत सहाब ऐसी क्या मजबूरी हो गयी जो “जय जवान जय किसान” की जगहमुंह से अकबर प्रेम रस टपक रहा है….देश के अन्नदाताओं से अपील है भ्रमवाजों से बचकर रहना है। pic.twitter.com/mNFJQi6cp7
— Sunil Yadav (@SunilYadavBJP) September 5, 2021
Several others also shared the video on Twitter.
That "Allah O Akbar" by Rakesh Tikait once again proves the agitation is not about farmers or Farm laws. The connotations are clearly on the lines being peddled by global anti Modi, anti India, ISI, Khalistani, Canadian cabal. The script is being handed from there.
— Vikas Saraswat (@VikasSaraswat) September 5, 2021
किसान आंदोलन में मजहबी नारों की आवश्यकता क्या थी?
क्या ऐसे नारों से #RakeshTikait द्वारा 2013 में मुजफ्फरनगर में बहन की रक्षा करते हुए मजहबी उन्माद में डूबी भीड़ द्वारा बर्बरता से मारे गये #सचिन और #गौरव_बालियान के परिवारों की भावनाओं को आहत नहीं किया जा रहा है? pic.twitter.com/61qt4uaIcp
— Vijendra Singh (@vijendras_ind) September 5, 2021
The clip has also been shared widely on Facebook.
Fact check
The viral videos, however, have been taken out of context — they are only small snippets of Tikait’s speech, in which he also raised the slogan, “Har Har Mahadev“.
The short clip that went viral is part of a 15-minute-long video that has been uploaded by the India Today Group channel Punjab Tak on its YouTube account.
In his speech, Tikait had said: “The slogans of Allah Hu Akbar and Har Har Mahadev have always been raised and will continue to be raised. We will not allow riots to happen here.”
Dainik Bhaskar also covered his address with the headline, “Kisan mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar: Rakesh Tikait says – slogans of Allah Hu Akbar and Har Har Mahadev will continue to be raised here.”
मुजफ्फरनगर में किसान महापंचायत: राकेश टिकैत बोले- यहां अल्लाह हू अकबर और हर-हर महादेव के नारे लगते रहेंगे; योगेंद्र यादव ने बताए- योगी सरकार के 5 पापhttps://t.co/2GFVgj198W #KisanAndolan @_YogendraYadav @RakeshTikaitBKU pic.twitter.com/7ufyLDBBmS
— Dainik Bhaskar (@DainikBhaskar) September 5, 2021
UP Tak, another digital channel of the India Today Group, published a report on the speech, tweeting, “When Tikait sahab was here, the slogans of Har-Har Mahadev and Allahu-Akbar used to be heard from this Earth, Rakesh Tikait made a statement in the Mahapanchayat, referring to the time of his father Mahendra Tikait.”
जब टिकैत साहब थे, तब हर-हर महादेव और अल्लाहु-अकबर के नारे इसी धरती से लगते थे, राकेश टिकैत ने अपने पिता महेंद्र टिकैत के समय की बात बताते हुए महापंचायत में दिया बयान।#Muzaffarnagar #MuzaffarnagarPanchayat https://t.co/RQh4VZn6XS
— UP Tak (@UPTakOfficial) September 5, 2021
In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer
(Edited by Rachel John)
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