Tag: Hindu

Clip of woman singing Hindu hymn falsely linked to Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif swearing-in


After Shehbaz Sharif was sworn in prime minister of Muslim-majority Pakistan, posts surfaced in its Hindu-majority neighbour India which falsely claimed a performer sang a Hindu hymn during the event. But the video in the posts previously appeared in news reports about a festival celebration in Pakistan’s largest city Karachi in March 2017. The singer shown in the clip told AFP she did not attend Sharif’s oath-taking ceremony in March 2024.

The video was shared by an India-based user on social media platform X on March 13, 2024, days after Sharif’s swearing in ceremony.

The post falsely claimed a singer named Narodha Malni performed the “Gayatri mantra” Hindu hymn during the event. It said: “Pakistan prime minister’s swearing in ceremony starting with ‘Gayatri maha mantra’ by smt. Naroda Malini Sahiba. Now Pakistan has officially recognised the importance & its recited in all functions.”

Sharif took his oath on March 4, following an election marred by vote rigging claims. His army-backed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz allied with historic rivals and several smaller factions to shut out candidates loyal to jailed ex-prime minister Imran Khan.

Khan’s candidates secured more seats in parliament than any other party but fell far short of the majority needed to form a government.

Text overlaid to the video, written in Telugu language widely spoken in southern India, similarly said it showed a Pakistani woman singing “Gayatri mantra” in front of the prime minister.

The video, however, showed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the older brother of the current leader.

<span>Screenshot of the false post taken on March 13, 2024</span>

Screenshot of the false post taken on March 13, 2024

Similar posts featuring the video were also shared elsewhere on X here and here, as well as on Facebook here, here and here.

A review of Sharif’s swearing-in ceremony streamed live on YouTube by local media Dunya News, however, found no Hindu hymn performance (archived link).

Holi celebration

Moreover, reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the clip is old.

A report from BBC News Hindi on March 21, 2017 featured portions of the video. It said the clip showed singer Narodha Malni performing the Gayatri mantra in front of Nawaz Sharif — the prime minister at the time (archived link).

The report added the event was a celebration in Pakistan’s Karachi city of Holi, an Indian festival that signifies the start of spring (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the clip falsely shared online (left) and the news report from BBC News Hindi (right):

<span>Video in one of the false posts (left) and from the 2017 BBC News Hindi report (right)</span>

Video in one of the false posts (left) and from the 2017 BBC News Hindi report (right)

Several Indian news sites such as here and here also reported on Malni’s performance and featured similar clips of the event (archived links here and here).

Responding to the posts, the singer told AFP: “I did not attend the recent oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad.”



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Millions in India are celebrating Holi. Here’s what the Hindu festival of colors is all about.


Richmond Hill, Queens celebrates 35th annual Holi festival


Richmond Hill, Queens celebrates 35th annual Holi festival

02:02

New Delhi — Millions of Indians in parts of the country’s north and central regions celebrated the Hindu festival of Holi on Monday.

The festival of colors, as it’s known as, marks the end of winter and the arrival of spring and is celebrated on the last full moon day of the Hindu lunisolar calendar month of Falgun.

The celebrations primarily involve families and friends smearing powdered colors on each others’ faces and drenching each other in colored water, singing and dancing to drum beats at private parties and in public. In fact, it’s not rare for strangers to attack you on the streets with colored water.

INDIA-RELIGION-FESTIVAL
People take part in the celebrations to mark Holi, the Hindu spring festival of colors at Assi Ghat in Varanasi on March 25, 2024.

NIHARIKA KULKARNI/AFP via Getty Images


The origin of the festival is traced in Hindu mythology legends, one of which tells the story of a female demon, Holika, and her brother, King Hiranyakashipu.

The King Hiranyakashipu claimed to be a god but his son, Prahlada, refused to worship him. The king and his sister Holika — after which Holi is named — plotted to kill Prahlada and lured him onto a pyre to burn him to death. But miraculously, Prahlada survived and Holika was burned to death instead.

For this reason, the festival is also celebrated as the victory of good over evil. On the eve of Holi, some Hindus light up bonfires to signify the burning of Holika.

In a village in the western state of Gujarat, a huge bonfire of 200 tons of wood was lit on Sunday night.

Holika Dahan In Gandhinagar
Devotees are performing the largest ”Holika Dahan” as part of the Holi festival celebrations in a nearby village near Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, on March 24, 2024.

Saurabh Sirohiya/NurPhoto via Getty Images


Holi is a public holiday in India and one of the country’s most celebrated Hindu festivals, besides the festival of lights, Diwali. Huge celebrations were held in several parts of the country on Monday. The festival is also celebrated in Nepal, which has a significant Hindu population.

The celebrations even extend to cities around the world, including New York.



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3 killed by landslides at base camp of a Hindu temple in northern India; 17 others still missing


Torrential rains triggered a landslide at a base camp of a revered Hindu temple in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing three people, officials said Saturday.

At least 17 others were reported missing in the village of Gaurikund in Uttarakhand state, said Nandan Singh Rajwar, a top official of the region’s Disaster Management unit. The missing included members of two families and a few pilgrims, he said.

The landslides were reported on Thursday night when a portion of a hill caved in because of torrential rain. Giant boulders fell on roadside shops and eateries that got swept away in the fast-flowing Mandakini River.

Rajwar said rescue teams resumed their search on Saturday but efforts were hampered by heavy rains in the area.

“The (rescue) teams could only recover three bodies until Friday evening,” Rajwar said, as rescue operations were suspended due to the onslaught of rain and limited visibility.

Gaurikund, nestled in the Garhwal Himalayas of Uttarakhand, has long been a starting point for thousands of devout pilgrims embarking on the spiritual journey to the revered Kedarnath temple, one of the holiest sites for Hindus. The picturesque region attracts both tourists and religious devotees from all over the world.

The area has been grappling with heavy downpours since Wednesday, but pilgrims have still continued their spiritual journey. The temple has so far attracted over 1 million visitors this year and the pilgrimage is scheduled to continue until mid-November.

Over 6,000 people were killed or went missing in a devastating flash flood in 2013 in the same area that washed away the temple town of Kedarnath and some residential buildings built near the pilgrimage route.



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