{"id":21052,"date":"2024-02-20T22:50:23","date_gmt":"2024-02-21T03:50:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/facebook-posts-target-indias-rahul-gandhi-with-edited-maths-gaffe-video\/20\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-20T22:50:23","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T03:50:23","slug":"facebook-posts-target-indias-rahul-gandhi-with-edited-maths-gaffe-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/facebook-posts-target-indias-rahul-gandhi-with-edited-maths-gaffe-video\/20\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook posts target India’s Rahul Gandhi with edited ‘maths gaffe’ video"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on February 16, 2024<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

The edited video was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It circulated ahead of nationwide elections to be held in April, which will see an opposition alliance that includes Gandhi’s Congress party battle the electoral juggernaut of Prime Minister Narendra Modi<\/a><\/span><\/span>‘s BJP.<\/p>\n

The BJP is heavily favoured to win a third successive landslide victory, in part because of Modi’s muscular and nationalistic appeals to India’s Hindu majority.<\/p>\n

Modi has revelled<\/a> in casting his chief opponent, dubbed an “empty suit” in leaked US embassy cables from 2005, as an out-of-touch princeling more interested in luxury and self-indulgence than fighting to helm the world’s biggest democracy.<\/p>\n

Edited video<\/h3>\n

A keyword search on Google found the original video<\/a> posted on the Congress party’s Facebook page on February 8, 2024 (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The portion used in the edited video starts at the 2:38 mark.<\/p>\n

According to the Facebook post, it shows him speaking in the eastern Indian state of Odisha during the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra<\/a>, which local media said was aimed at whipping up support ahead of the election (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Below is a screenshot comparison of the edited video shared on Facebook (left) and the original video (right):<\/p>\n

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\"<span>Screenshot\"<span><button<\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Screenshot comparison of the edited video shared on Facebook (left) and the original video (right)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

In the original video, Gandhi recalls a journalist asking him if the introduction of a caste census would worsen divisions in Indian society.<\/p>\n

Opposition parties are pressuring the government to carry out a nationwide survey<\/a> of lower castes in India to help improve their representation in politics (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n

“I told him that at least 50 percent of people belong to backward classes, 15 percent are Dalits, 8 percent are Adivasis. What is the total of 50, 15 and 8? It’s 73,” he says.<\/p>\n

India’s centuries-old caste system divides people into four main castes starting with the priestly Brahmins and ending with the Dalits, formerly known as “untouchables”.<\/p>\n

India’s indigenous tribal communities, collectively known as Adivasis, along with those at the bottom rungs of\u00a0 the rigid caste hierarchy have been subjected to violence, prejudice and discrimination<\/a> for centuries.<\/p>\n

AFP has previously debunked misinformation targeting the opposition leader here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post, captured on February 16, 2024 The edited video was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and