Fact Check: No, Maulana Madani did not ask Hindus to leave India after 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Hyderabad: A video of Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani, former Rajya Sabha member and president of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind, has been circulating on social media. In the video, Madani says, “This country is ours and we will fulfil our responsibility towards the country. Our religion, attire, etiquette, and food habits are different. And if you cannot tolerate our religion, then you should go somewhere else.”

The claim accompanying the posts suggests that the video is recent and depicts Madani asking Hindus to leave India after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 240 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, falling short of the majority by 32 seats.

“BJP left by 32 seats in majority & they started threatening Hindus and asking Hindus to leave India. They are feeling that they are in the right direction to achieve PFI’sGajwa-E-Hind-20247 target. Hey Divided Hindus, find a new place for yourselves or convert,” wrote an X user who shared the video. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is misleading as the video is from 2022.

The viral video carried the logo of TV9 Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand. Taking this cue, we ran a specific keyword search on the TV9 Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand YouTube channel and found the video published on May 31, 2022.

We also found an extended version of the video published by another verified channel Millat Times on May 29, 2022. The banner in this video shows Madani speaking at the national governing meeting of Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind. The viral clip appears in this video at the 2:16 minute mark.

Madani also says in the video that I am not threatening but informing that this country is also ours. We had the opportunity but we rejected Pakistan. We are citizens of this country, not foreigners. He also expresses regret by the end of the video for saying that those who dislike us should leave the country.

We also found Madani’s controversial statement reported by Hindustan and Jagran in May 2022.

Hence, we conclude that the viral video of Maulana Mahmood Asad Madani is from 2022. The claim that he asked Hindus to leave India after the BJP fell short of a majority in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is false.