Fact Check: Pakistani cricket team was not welcomed with ‘murdabad’ slogans at Hyderabad Airport
The viral video had been doctored by adding audio of people shouting anti-Pakistan slogans.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 29 Sep 2023 10:27 AM GMT
Screengrab of the X post.
Hyderabad: Amid high security, the Pakistani cricket team arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on September 27 night to participate in the ICC ODI World Cup in India starting on October 5.
Following their arrival, a video is making rounds on social media claiming to show derogatory chants such as ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ slogans being raised against the Pakistani team at the airport.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “Pakistan Murdabad chants were raised when Pakistan teππorist team arrived in Bharat… (sic)” At the time of publishing the article, the X post had garnered more than 50,000 views and was retweeted more than 150 times.
(Image Credit: X/@Abhishekkkk10)
Several other X users also shared the video claiming the same. Click here and here to view the posts.
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the viral video had been doctored by adding audio of people shouting anti-Pakistan slogans.
Upon a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found a 1.55-minute video which showed the same visuals of Pakistan players at the airport posted on X by the news agency ANI on September 27. In this video, we could not hear anti-Pakistan chants, but fans calling the Pakistani skipper ‘Babar Bhai’.
The caption of the post read, “Telangana: Pakistan Cricket team arrives at Hyderabad airport, ahead of the World Cup scheduled to be held between October 5 to November 19, in India.”
We also found several other videos on X of Pakistan’s cricket team coming out of Hyderabad airport shot from different angles. We could not find anti-Pakistan chants in these videos either, which confirms that the viral video is manipulated. (Click here and here to view the posts.)
Further, we reached out to R Srinivas, Inspector to Police at RGI Airport police station, who confirmed to NewsMeter that no anti-Pakistan chants were raised at the Hyderabad Airport. He also mentioned that a US citizen had chanted “Pakistan jeetega” (Pakistan will win).
Contrary to the claims, we also found videos shared by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Pakistani politicians and X pages about Pakistan mentioning the warm welcome their cricket team received in India.
Hence, we conclude that the viral video has been digitally doctored.
