Hyderabad: A video of two men chanting Vedic mantras in an auditorium with the American flag in the background has gone viral with the claim that Vedic chants were recited at the White House while welcoming the new American President-elect Joe Biden into office.
Many social media users have shared this video with the caption, "White House first day before entering the New American PRESIDENT, How they perform Indian Slocas invocking Almighty of the UNIVERS for the GOOD happening of the Countrymen (sic)."
Click here to view the archive and here for a similar claim.
FACT CHECK:
The claim that Biden was welcomed into the White House amid Vedic chants is FALSE.
While analysing the video, NewsMeter noticed the words 'Dharmic Dialogue: Seva and Social Justice' displayed on a white screen. Using this information, NewsMeter performed a keyword search and found a similar video on YouTube by the Hindu American Seva Communities (HASC).
Another video from the same event showed Dr Sushil Jain addressing a gathering.
These videos were taken during HASC's fourth annual White House seva conference on 2 October 2014. According to the press note by HASC, the conference marked the 145th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwlxj5pIr0I-eWg2cnN6MjVNNDg/view
HASC is a progressive American organisation that promotes seva (community social responsibility), pluralistic interfaith collaboration, and social justice to make sustainable civic engagement a defining part of Hindu-American life and culture.
Further, the White House is still occupied by Trump, and Biden is expected to be sworn in only in January 2021.
Evidently, the claim that Biden was welcomed into the White House by Vedic mantras is FALSE.