A viral video claiming NDTV misreported an interview of an Indian student who returned from Ukraine and praised the Indian government's efforts to evacuate students stranded in the war-hit country, is misleading and false.
BOOM found that the Indian student said 'it was like hell' while describing the harrowing journey to make it across the Ukraine-Romania border.
The video shows a two-window comparison of the Indian student narrating how he received help from Indian embassy officials versus a static screenshot of NDTV's video report whose headline reads '"It Was Like hell": Indian Student From Ukraine After Landing In Delhi.'
The clip was tweeted by Bharatiya Janata Party supporter Surendra Poonia.
Poonia, who is an retired armed forces veteran posted the video with a caption saying, "NDTV is not a news channel but a well oiled Propaganda Machine Student is saying in Video - Indian Embassy provided 5 star facilities But NDTV writes - It was like hell Their only aim is to create anarchy".
The video can be seen below.
The same video is doing the rounds on Facebook with a similar caption.
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Fact Check
BOOM found the same graphic with the headline "It was like hell: Indian Student From Ukraine After Landing In Delhi" was posted from NDTV's official Instagram handle on March 1, 2022.
The caption with the graphic reads as, "It was like hell," a student told NDTV outside Delhi airport, on a day an Indian student lost his life when Russian soldiers blew up a Ukrainian government building in the East European nation's second-biggest city Kharkiv. Shubhanshu narrated the long journey he and hundreds of Indian students made to reach the Romanian border and the difficulties they faced as they desperately tried to get out of Ukraine. Link in bio."
Taking a cue from this, we searched using a related keyword search on NDTV India's official YouTube channel and found the interview was uploaded on March 1, 2022.
The transcript of the conversation can be read below.
NDTV Reporter: Sir, tell us where are you coming from and how did you manage to come here?
Student: I am coming from Vinnytsia (Ukraine).
NDTV Reporter: Tell us your name.
Student: Shubhanshu. We first travelled from Vinnytsia to the border. The journey was uneventful. Our contractors arranged buses. We reached the border safely, though we had to walk some 12-13 km. But walking was not the problem. The problem was crossing the Romanian border. It had become impossible to cross the border. Students were crying, I saw, and begging to be allowed to cross the border. Some fainted, fell on their feet. Some of the students ended up fighting among themselves, saying 'let me go first, let me go first'. Ukrainian troops were kicking them.
NDTV Reporter: Did you face any kind of violence?
Student: I didn't face any violence, but saw it happening a lot. Some of them fainted. Some students were hit with rifle stock, kicked... The situation had gotten very bad. They weren't preferring us. When the border gates opened, they would let in Ukrainians first.
NDTV Reporter: How did Indian embassy official help you?
Student: Once we crossed the border, the Indian embassy took care of us well. We faced no problem after it. Everything went smoothly after that. We got food and water. In fact, some of my friends are still in shelter and honestly speaking, they are like five-star accommodation, they are treating very well. When Indian embassy managed everything, then everything became okay. But the situation was bad in the Romanian border. It's like hell.
NDTV also published an article about the interview on March 01, 2022. The report can be read here.
The viral video shared by Surendra Poonia and other social media users is misleading as it has used the student's answer about help provided by the Indian embassy and claimed NDTV headlined the interview as 'It was like hell'. However, on viewing the full interview it is clear that the student described the ordeal faced by Indian students in crossing the Ukraine-Romanian border as hell.
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