A video is being widely shared on social media platforms claiming that the former President of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam can be heard singing Ganesh Stuti. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam singing Ganesh Stuti.
Fact: There is no evidence to prove that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam sang Ganesh stuti in public. Also, we found that the voice in the viral video is different from Abdul Kalam’s voice. Taking a cue from the YouTube comments, we reached out to Swami Omkarananda’s Ashram in Tamil Nadu, and confirmed that the voice in the viral video is Swami Omkarananda’s. Hence the claim made in the video is MISLEADING
First, we compared the voice in the viral video with the voice of Abdul Kalam. Though they sound similar, they are not the same. Next, we searched online if there are any reports about Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam singing Ganesh Stuti but couldn’t find any information. Then, we found that the same video was also uploaded on various YouTube Channels with the same claim. They can be seen here, here and here. We went through the comments under these YouTube videos and found that many comments claim that the voice belongs to Sri Omkarananda Swamiji of Tamil Nadu.
One user also commented that this was an audio message from Swami Omkarananda to bless his devotees on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Taking a cue from this, we searched on various Social Media channels of Swami Omkarananda but couldn’t find this exact Ganesh Stuti by him. But after comparing the voice in the viral videos with that of the Swami Omkarananda’s old audio tapes, it is evident that this Ganesh Stuti was probably sung by him. Swami Omkarananda passed away in 2021. We reached out to the mail given on his website and they clarified that the voice in the viral video is Swami Omkarananda’s.
Additionally, we found that a Ganesh idol was designed on the top of a Missile like structure in Kanpur during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Kanpur, 2015 as a tribute to Dr Abdul Kalam.
To sum it up, the voice singing Ganesh stuti is not Abdul Kalam’s, it is swami Omkarananda’s
