Fact Check: Video of Maulana Mahmood Madani opposing Asaduddin Owaisi’s leadership is not recent

Hyderabad: In the backdrop of the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a video is circulating on social media showing Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Maulana Mahmood A Madani rejecting claims making Asaduddin Owaisi – the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) – the leader of Indian Muslims.

“Muslims as Muslim citizens should not choose their own leader. While I hold Owaisi Sahab in high regard as a good human being, I disagree with his bid to become the political leader of Indian Muslims and will not let him succeed. While he can become the political leader of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, his influence should not extend beyond these regions, particularly not into Maharashtra,” Madani is heard saying in the video.

“Who are these people to tell whom Muslims should choose as their political leader and whom they should not? And why should Muslims accept a non-Muslim as their leader? If you have sold yourself, should we also sell ourselves? If you disagree, do not accept a Muslim as your leader, but on what basis are you making this appeal to the public?” wrote a user in Hindi on X while sharing the video. (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that Maulana Madani’s statements are from 2018 and have no links with the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

On performing a reverse image search of the video’s keyframe, we found it posted on X (archive) and Facebook (archive) by Amjed Ullah Khan, a Hyderabad politician and spokesman of Majlis Bachao Tahreek (MBT), on November 18, 2023. In the caption, Khan quoted Madani expressing their stance of not allowing Owaisi’s presence in Maharashtra.

We also found the video in a report published by Zee News on November 11, 2018, titled ‘Maulana Madani speaks against AIMIM President Owaisi.’ According to the channel, Madni had targeted Owaisi and refused to endorse Owaisi as the leader of Muslims in India.

We searched the X handle of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind but found no recent statement by Maulana Madani or his organisation regarding AIMIM’s decision to contest the Lok Sabha elections outside Telangana.

In 2014, Imtiyaz Jaleel, AIMIM MP from the Aurangabad Lok Sabha Constituency, played a pivotal role in the expansion of the party into Maharashtra, alongside Waris Pathan’s victory in Byculla, Mumbai. Subsequently, in 2019, Jaleel contested and won his first Lok Sabha elections from the Aurangabad constituency. “As per the latest data from MyNeta.info, AIMIM has fielded candidates in six constituencies for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.”

Hence, we conclude that the video of Maulana Madni opposing the leadership of Owaisi in Maharashtra is from 2018 and is being shared without context amid the ongoing General Elections.