DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A video is being shared on social media depicting Uttarakhand former Chief Minister Harish Rawat visiting a Dargah. The caption claims that he has converted to Islam and visited the dargah recently.
समस्त देशवासियों को सुचित किया जाता है कि कांग्रेस पार्टी के वरिष्ठ नेता जो उत्तराखंड राज्य के मुख्यमंत्री भी रह चुके हैं और हिन्दू धर्म से हैं आज से उन्होंने इस्लाम धर्म स्वीकार कर लिया है आप लोगों को यकीन नहीं हो रहा होगा इसलिए आप लोगों को साक्षात्कार रूप से देखा रहे हैं सत्ता… pic.twitter.com/nitq80I3z1
— 🚩योगीआदित्यनाथफैन(डिजिटल योद्धा)गोडसे का भक्त 🕉 (@maheshyagyasain) October 16, 2024
Translated into English, it reads: “All the countrymen are informed that the senior leader of Congress Party, who has also been the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand state and is from the Hindu religion, has accepted Islam from today. You people might not be believing it, that is why we are showing you in person, to gain power, the leaders of political parties change their religion like chameleons, it is possible that some people keep on flattering such leaders just for their own benefit, see, Harish Rawat ji has accepted Islam, Allah hu Akbar, drown yourself in a handful of water, the buffalo has gone into the water.”
The post has been shared here and here on social media.
FACT CHECK
Taking key frames and checking them on Google Reverse Image Search showed results tracing the original video back to November 28, 2021.
In this video from November 2021, the news is about his visit and its possible outcome. It shows when Harish Rawat visited Piran Kaliyar and offered a chadar at Sabir Pak Dargah on Nov. 28, 2021, NOT recently as claimed. The old video has surfaced again on social media with a falsely claiming that it was recent and claiming that Rawat has converted to Islam. Both claims are false.
Further search revealed that the old video was shared by the Congress here and news reports too confirm the same.
Claim: Former Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat visited dargah and converted into Islam.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation — Old 2021 video used to falsely claim as recent and that Harish Rawat converted to Islam.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
