Fact Check: Did Arjun Sampath threaten to marry couples seen together on Valentine's Day? Here's the truth
A news card is being widely shared on social media claiming that Hindu Makkal Katchi founder Arjun Sampath has said he will catch lovers on Valentine’s Day and get them married.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 14 Feb 2022 1:00 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A news card is being widely shared on social media claiming that Hindu Makkal Katchi founder Arjun Sampath has said he will catch lovers on Valentine's Day and get them married.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
NewsMeter could not find any news reports about Arjun Sampath making such a statement.
We noticed that the viral news card had the logo of 'Kathir News'. Taking a cue from this, we performed a keyword search which led us to a tweet by Kathir News from 9 February 2022. Sharing the viral news card, they had asked users not to believe in any such false propaganda and also said the news was fake.
Another keyword search led us to a few news reports. According to a video news report uploaded on the YouTube channel of Thanthi TV on 11 February 2018, Arjun Sampath had called for a ban on Valentine's Day.
Another report by Simplicity published on 13 February 2018 had also reported the same. It read, "Alleging that the celebrations associated with Valentine's Day has commercial motives and it is inimical to the tradition and culture of our country said Arjun Sampath, President of Hindu Makkal Katchi said that our country valued love and every day is Valentine's day for us. Demanding that the government should ban the celebrations on Valentine's day Arjun Sampath said love is something divine when it happens in a family set up and for a country like India, every day is Valentine's day, as we honor family values," Arjun Sampath said while briefing the media here (sic)."
A similar report was published by behindwoods.com.
It is evident that the claim made through the viral post is false. Arjun Sampath, the founder of Hindu Makkal Katchi, has made no such statement. In fact, in 2018 he had called for a ban on Valentine's Day but even then, he had made no statement threatening to catch couples and marry them off.
