A video is circulating on social media that features a bearded man advising Hindus to read their religious texts to protect themselves. The claim accompanying the video suggests that the man is a Muslim scholar. Let’s examine the truthfulness of this claim through this fact-checking article.
Claim: The video depicts a Muslim scholar making provocative statements against Muslims and advising Hindus to read their religious texts to learn how to protect themselves.
Fact: The individual in the video is not a Muslim scholar but Acharya Prashant Sharma, a Hindu affiliated with the Arya Samaj Hindu organization. Therefore the claim made in the post is False.
While skimming through the comment section, we found a user mentioning that the person in the viral video is not a Muslim scholar. Instead, they identified the person as Acharya Prashant Sharma. Another user said he belongs to the Arya Samaj, a Hindu organization.
Upon searching for Acharya Prashant Sharma on the internet, we found a Facebook page which contains videos and photos of the same man featured in the viral video. Acharya Prashant Sharma posts content on Hinduism on this page. The page’s introduction, translated from Hindi, states, “The aim is to make Vedic philosophy accessible to you.”
On Acharya Prashant Sharma’s Facebook page, we discovered the original longer version of the viral video titled “Udaipur Hatyakhand” (Killing of a Hindu Tailor Kanhaiya Lal by two Muslim men). In the video, he advises Hindus to read their religious texts to protect themselves. A portion of this video, starting from 1.47 Seconds, is what we see in the viral post. Acharya Prashant also uploaded a smaller version of this video on Twitter, where he said, ‘They have learned terror from Quran, what have you learned from Vedas? Don’t be afraid, have to fight.’
This evidence establishes that the person in the viral video is Acharya Prashant Sharma, who makes content related to the Hindu religion and posts on social media. Further research by us also revealed that he is not a Muslim scholar.
Acharya Prashant Sharma’s clarification
Videos with similar claims went viral on social media last year, after which Acharya Prashant Sharma shared a post on his Facebook page where he attached screenshots of social media posts and WhatsApp forwards that refer to him as a Muslim scholar. In this post, he questions the claim, stating, “Hey brother, which Muslim recites Veda mantras in Hindi and Sanskrit like this?” He further mentions that the media organization Aaj Tak contacted him for a fact check.
In an interview with Boom Live, Acharya Prashant Sharma confirmed that he is a Hindu and is associated with the Arya Samaj. He clarifies that it is incorrect to associate him with any other religion.
To sum up, it is evident that the man featured in the video is not a Muslim scholar but Acharya Prashant Sharma, a Hindu associated with the Arya Samaj Hindu organization.
