Fact Check: Tamil pastor prays for PM Modi’s death? No, find the truth here
A video of a pastor praying in Tamil allegedly calling for the deaths of top political leaders such as prime minister Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath has gone viral.
By K Sherly Sharon Published on 3 Jan 2025 7:40 PM IST
Claim: The video shows a pastor praying in Tamil asking Jesus to kill prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
Fact: The claim is false. The pastor said ‘bless them’ not ‘kill them’. The mistranslation is deliberately being shared to create religious animosity.
Hyderabad: A video of a pastor praying in Tamil at a public event has gone viral with the claim that he is asking Lord Jesus Christ to kill prime minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath.
The video was shared on X with the caption “BIG | ‘Jesus, please kill Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, & Yogi Adityanath. Jesus, give us the strength to destroy the Ayodhya Ram temple and build a church,’ - Says A Pastor In Tamil Nadu Church. The UP Police & NIA should immediately step in, as this is a direct death threat to the Prime Minister, Home Minister, Chief Minister, and a matter of national security. (sic)” (Archive)
Similar claims can be found here, here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2, Archive 3)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The pastor’s Tamil speech where he said ‘bless them’ not ‘kill them’ is deliberately being shared with the wrong interpretation.
We shared the viral video with our Fact Check team in Tamil Nadu who confirmed that the pastor can be heard saying ‘thodungappa’ during the prayer which means ‘touch them father’.
After we slowed down the viral video, removed the noise and amplified the audio, we could hear the pastor say clearly, “Save the MPs and the MLAs. Touch Prime Minister Modi, touch Amit Shah, touch Nirmala Sitharaman… Touch Stalin… touch Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too… Jesus, prove that you are a living God in Ayodhya.”
A transcription of the viral video read, “MPkal MLAkala ratchiyungal. Pradhamar Modi ah thodunga, Amit Shah va thodunga Nirmal Sitharamana thodungappa... Mu Ka Stalin ah thodungappa... Uttar Pradesha Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ah thodungappa... Ayothiyila jeevan ulla devan yesungradha niroobichu kaatungappa.”
The translation and transcription also confirmed that during the prayer, along with the BJP leaders, the pastor asked Jesus to bless the chief minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin, MPs and MLAs.
The fact-check unit of the Government of Tamil Nadu responded to the viral post. They dismissed the claim as a misinterpretation of the pastor’s Tamil prayer.
The post read: “In the video, the pastor uses the Tamil word ‘thodungappa’ while praying, which translates to ‘touch’ and is commonly understood to mean ‘bless’ in Tamil… However, the word ‘thodungappa’ he used in the speech referring to them is being misinterpreted and misleadingly shared in a different context.” (Archive)
The same video also went viral at the beginning of last year with the same claim. Find the old posts here, here, here and here. (Archive 1, Archive 2, Archive 3, Archive 4)
Therefore, NewsMeter concludes that the viral claim is false.
