Fact Check: Union minister Naqvi has not converted to Hinduism

A Facebook user shared the video and wrote, "Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi changed his religion." (translated)

Click here and here to view similar posts.

Click here for archived post.

Fact Check:

The claim is FALSE.

NewsMeter extracted keyframes from the video and performed a Google reverse image search. We found that the Union minister had shared the video on Facebook on 21 September with the caption, "Took blessings of respected Sri Sri Sri Swatmanandendra Saraswati Mahaswamy ji of Vishakha Sri Sardapeetham, Pendurthi, Visakhapatnam, today at Antyodaya Bhawan in New Delhi. He invited me to Sri Sarada Swaroopa Rajashyamala Sarannavaratri Mahotsav which is going to be organized from 7 to 15 October."

He had also shared photos of the meeting on Twitter.

A search for "Visakha Sri Sarada Peetham" led to the website vssp.com. There we found several videos and photos of Swami Swatmanandendra Saraswati who is seen in the viral video.

Under the programmes section, we can see several images of the Swami meeting and inviting various celebrities to Sri Sarada Swaroopa Rajashyamala Sarannavaratri Mahotsav. The mahostav or festival will be celebrated from 7 to 15 October 2021.

Therefore, the claim that Union minister of minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has converted to Hinduism is FALSE. The video was taken during the visit of Swami Swamanandendra Saraswati from Visakha Sarada Peetham to the minister's office. It is being shared with a FALSE narrative.