DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A social media post is being shared on social media with a claim that DMK chief Stalin has made derogatory comments against Hindus. The post included a screengrab of a news report with the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s image.
The screenshot can be seen with the logo of News7 Tamil. It stated that Stalin purportedly said:”If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing. DMK will not stoop down to the level of begging Hindus for votes.”
Here’s the post:
It has been shared on Facebook here.
FACT CHECK
The Digiteye India team took it up as it looked suspicious owing to unlikely remarks by a political leader. First, we checked for the news channel’s news reports and could not find any. Other social media posts also yielded no result to the news report. Even Google News has not carried any such report.
When we checked key frame from the image, we found the date that said Feb 15, 2019, 02:00 PM but Stalin was not the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister then and it was Palaniswami of AIADMK who was the chief minister of the state.
In fact, we found a 2019 report by News 7 Tamil carrying the same date and time and a statement by then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Palaniswami, where he was seen offering financial assistance to soldiers who lost their lives in Jammu and Kashmir. The old image has been altered but the date has not been changed, giving away the fact that it was an altered image.
Stalin became Tamil Nadu Chief Minister on May 7, 2021. It’s noteworthy that M.K. Stalin has always clarified that the DMK is not against Hindus. When his son Udayanidhi Stalin’s remarks on Sanatana Dharma in October 2023 made headlines, Stalin has openly urged all DMK leaders to refrain from making comments on Hinduism.
Hence, the image has been altered from this 2019 video superimposing stalin’s image on former CM Palaniswami.
Claim: Stalin said, “If our victory solely depends on Hindu votes, we don’t mind losing. DMK will not stoop down to the level of begging Hindus for votes”
Conclusion: False. News7 Tamil has not published any such news report with such comments by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin. An old footage of News7 Tamil was altered to show Stalin saying these words.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
