BJP's politics is based on 'Fake News', indulges in cheap antics, alleges AAP MLA Atishi

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New Delhi: AAP senior leader and MLA Atishi said BJP's politics is based on Fake News and the court's order of lodging a case against BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra for sharing a fake video of CM Arvind Kejriwal has proved that they indulge in cheap antics.

Tis Hazari Court has ordered the IP Estate Police Station to register an FIR on the fake video which Sambit Patra had posted in favour of the farm law. BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra put out a fake video of CM Arvind Kejriwal on 30 January 2021 while Twitter itself was saying that this video is incorrect. Atishi said that this video has been proved to be fake in the police investigation, forensic lab and court, the reality is that AAP and Arvind Kejriwal had repeatedly opposed these three farm laws. She said that we demanded Delhi Police to register an FIR through a complaint on February 2, but the FIR was not registered and then we went to court on February 24 where after 4 hearings Justice Rishabh Kapoor ordered registration of an FIR on November 21.

Senior AAP Leader and MLA Atishi addressed a press conference at party headquarters on Thursday. She went on to inform the media about the fake video posted by BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra and said, “On 30th January 2021, BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra tweeted a video, a screenshot of which I am sharing with you, captioned “teeno farm bills ke laabh ginate hue… Sir jee (listing the benefits of the three farm bills)”.

The video, which was clearly doctored, had a so-called interview of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he is heard supporting the three farm bills introduced by the Central Government which caused great unrest all over the country. Sambit Patra’s direction in sharing this was that ‘Shri Arvind Kejriwal had initially supported the farm bills and now changed his stance on it.’ This video was marked by twitter itself for manipulation and fake news. Twitter added a ‘manipulated media’ tag to the video as well. Despite knowing the truth, Sambit Patra did not take the video down and continued to mislead the people following his tweet. Spreading fake news and posting manipulated content isn’t anything new in BJP’s agenda, so it was no wonder that he did not delete his tweet. "

"You have often seen that even BJP’s official social media handles share photos and videos that are repeatedly proven as fake and manipulated by many news agencies. Organisations like Alt News have time and again officially proved the misleading and fake aspects of content shared by the BJP on social media. But it seems that the entire politics of the BJP functions on the tenets of fake news, and this incident of Sambit Patra’s misleading tweet is one such example of the same.”

"I would like to share the process of manipulation of the video and how it has been doctored with the public today by playing the edited video posted by Sambit Patra and then the original one in front of you. This will make everything clear, as has been done during the police investigation, forensics, and at the court."

In the fabricated video, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal is heard saying, “Your MSP will not go anywhere, your mandi will not go anywhere. Now the farmer can sell their crop anywhere in the country. Now the farmer will receive good rates, and they can sell outside the Mandis. This will be the biggest revolutionary step in 70 years in the agricultural sector.” 

Commenting on the fabricated video shared by Sambit Patra, Atishi said, “This was the doctored video shared by Sambit Patra which shows Arvind Kejriwal speaking in favour of the three farm bills, when in reality the Delhi CM and the Aam Aadmi Party have repeatedly opposed them in Punjab as well as in Delhi. We dissented against these unjust farm bills in the parliament, in the legislative assemblies, through press conferences, and even on the streets. Now you can see how this fake video was doctored out of an original interview that Arvind Kejriwal gave to the Zee Haryana-Punjab Channel. Some parts of this interview where he is found saying that ‘the BJP leaders say, that these are the benefits of the farm laws’ - the part containing the line ‘the BJP leaders say’ has shamelessly been edited out. It is not that Sambit Patra did not have access to the original video, or that he did not know that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has been a staunch opposer of the farm bills. It’s not like Sambit Patra was clueless about the Delhi CM repeatedly giving interviews and speeches listing out all that was wrong with the Central Government’s farm bills. Despite being aware of all of this, he intentionally shared this video.”

Atishi went on, “Comparing the two videos, you can clearly see how the original one was edited and fabricated to show the so-called praises of the farm bills by Shri Arvind Kejriwal were in fact points being raised by him to point out the drawbacks of the bills. He was stating that the BJP leaders say these are the benefits, which in fact are not benefits at all. And later he says that if because of the Farmers Movement a legal guarantee of MSP is ensured, ‘it will be the biggest revolutionary step’ and this sentence was taken out of context and shows as a praise for the farm bills. So it is clear that all that Shri Arvind Kejriwal said against the farm bills was doctored and shared by BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra on his Twitter timeline. Despite knowing that Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party strictly oppose the ‘kale kanoon’ (black laws), he went ahead with this. But today I am happy to share that our country’s law and order has taken strict action against this fake news and propaganda. Two days ago, on 23 November 2021 the Tis Hazari Court issued a strong order regarding the fake news being spread through this doctored video and IT Estate Police Station has been ordered to issue an FIR against Sambit Patra for being complicit in spreading this fake news. People who are spreading fake news on social media will be warned by this order. Through this manipulation and fabrication, these people instil hatred among different societies and communities and try to defame the leaders of political parties. Today, the law and order system of our country has clamped down on them. They have been warned that if they share such fake or videos again, then accountability will be ensured and they will have to face the justice system.

The AAP MLA said, “Unfortunately till the Tis Hazari Court did not issue orders, the Delhi Police did not take any action on its own. This video was posted on 30th January this year, after which on 2nd February I went to IP Estate Police Station to complain. I demanded to file an FIR but it was not registered by the police. After three days I filed a complaint in the DCP office that a fake video has been posted and action should be taken against it. But even in response to this, an FIR was not filed. Apart from this, the notice was not sent to Sambit Patra but to me – asking why I had filed such a complaint. They did not call Sambit Patra for investigation but me. We put all the facts and both the videos in front of the Investigation Officer. When Delhi Police finally reached Sambit Patra, the video was deleted from his Twitter handle the same day. What advice did Delhi Police give to Sambit Patra? "

"What happened to this tweet which was on his Twitter timeline despite being tagged ‘manipulated media’ for so long, but vanished as soon as the Delhi Police visited him? Despite all this, the police did not file an FIR. We took this matter to court on February 24 - where, after 4 hearings, on November 21, Justice Rishabh Kapoor finally passed this order. The order clearly states that this video is fake. Apart from this, the report of the Forensic Science Lab has also shown that this is a fabricated video and a fake video. On the basis of this, orders for strict action have been given by the court to the Delhi Police," she added.

Atishi concluded by saying, “I am happy that even though it took many months for action to be taken in this matter, today our efforts have finally come to fruition. This order is a message for those spreading fake news through social media - you can do your level best to mislead people with fake news, abuse them, try to pit communities against each other and instigate farmers against Arvind Kejriwal. But eventually, the truth will come to light. You will be held accountable and you will have to face the law.”