Fact Check: Old video of Vivek Oberoi praising Bishnoi community falsely linked to Salman Khan
Salman Khan has received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang after Baba Siddique’s murder.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 19 Oct 2024 12:13 PM GMT
Claim: The video shows actor Vivek Oberoi praising the Bishnoi community as a subtle jab at Salman Khan who has received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Fact: The claim is false. The video is old and it shows Vivek Oberoi attending an environmental conference in Dubai in February 2023.
Hyderabad: Bollywood actor Salman Khan has received more death threats allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, stemming from Khan’s alleged hunting and killing of two blackbucks while filming ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan in 1998.
Salman Khan’s security has been on high alert after he received death threats from the Bishnoi gang who are said to be behind the NCP leader Baba Siddique’s murder on October 12.
Amid these developments, a video clip of actor Vivek Oberoi praising the Bishnoi community has gone viral.
An X user has shared the video with the caption, “Who is Vivek Oberoi talking about in the video? He will never let them forget. #viralvideo #SalmanKhan #VivekOberoi” (Translated from Hindi)
Those sharing the video claim that the video is recent and Vivek is praising the Bishnoi community as a subtle jibe at Salman Khan. In the 27-second video, Oberoi says, “The Bishnoi community is unique in the world, where mothers in the community care for orphaned deer, nurturing them as if they were their own children.”
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The video is old and unrelated to the recent threats aimed at Salman Khan.
A reverse image search led us to an extended video of the viral clip on the JambhSar Media YouTube channel titled ‘Film actor Vivek Oberoi becomes Bishnoi’ uploaded on February 4, 2023. This hinted that the video clip is old.
The viral clip can be found at the 4:26-minute mark in the video. We inferred the topic of the event from a flexi seen at the beginning of the video which had the text ‘Global Environmental Challenges & Their Redressal in the Principles of the Bishnoi Society’ on it.
Additional investigation led us to a report by The Times of UAE titled, ‘International Environment Conference Dubai – A Tribute to 363 Khejarli Martyrs’. As per the report, the event was held at the Bristol Hotel in Deira, Dubai, on February 4-5, 2023. The aim was to ‘support and applaud the efforts of the Bishnoi Society in preserving the environment.’
According to the report over 500 delegates from India participated in the conference, a tribute to the Bishnoi community’s conservation efforts.
The report mentioned Vivek Oberoi as a participant in the conference, along with Kuldeep Bishnoi (former member of the Lok Sabha), Farooq Abdullah (current member of the Lok Sabha), and Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi (former member of the Punjab Legislative Assembly), all of whom can be seen in the video as well.
Additionally, the event was reported by other news outlets like City Express-News and News of Rajasthan. There was no mention of Salman Khan in the reports.
This confirmed that the event and Vivek’s speech had nothing to do with Salman Khan or the latest wave of death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The video was recorded at an environmental conference in Dubai in February 2023.
The claim is false.
