Video Of Pak Cleric Spreading Misinformation On COVID Vaccine Viral

A video clip showing a Pakistani cleric calling COVID-19 vaccine a Jewish conspiracy to control people's minds and destroy world currencies is being widely shared on Indian social media handles.

The viral clip shows Islamic scholar and cleric Kaukab Noorani Okarvi alleging several conspiracy theories behind the COVID-19 vaccine. BOOM found a longer version of the same clip uploaded on YouTube on May 29, 2020.

The video is viral in the backdrop of the latest developments in the production and roll out of the vaccine that has become one of the most awaited events of the new year.

The minute-long clip shows Okarvi speaking from a dais. He says, "The vaccine that they are claiming to make, they will putting something in it that would control your mind. You will do what they want, not what you want. They also want to put a chip in you...it will be made mandatory. The other programme is currency...they will wipe out different currencies from the world'.

(Hindi: ये जो वैक्सीन बनानी है ना इसकी, दवा, इंजेक्शन बनाना है | उसमे वो ऐसी चीज़ डालना चाह रहे हैं कि आपका मिज़ाज़ काबू कर लेंगे वो...आपके मिज़ाज़ पर काबू पा लेंगे | वो जो चाहेंगे वही आप सोचेंगे जो आप चाहेंगे नहीं सोच सकेंगे | उसमे वो एक चिप डालना चाह रहे हैं बहुत छोटी सी वो लगाना लाज़मी कर देंगे उसके बाद उनका दूसरा प्रोग्राम है करेंसी...दुनिया में एक करेंसी कर दो नोट ख़तम कर दो |)

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The video has been shared by several verified handles on Twitter and is also viral on Facebook.

BJP spokesperson Shalabh Mani Tripathi tweeted the viral clip with a claim in Hindi which translates to 'This is the Islamic version of India's 'Munna Bhai vaccine experts'. Say, there's a chip in the vaccine which will control everybody's mind'.

(Hindi: ये हैं भारत के ' मुन्ना भाई वैक्सीन विशेषज्ञों ' का इस्लामिक संस्करण, कहते हैं वैक्सीन में चिप लगी है, सबका मिज़ाज क़ाबू कर लेंगे।)

The video is viral with the same claim from multiple Twitter handles and Facebook pages.

Some Facebook posts have also juxtaposed the Pakistani cleric's video with that of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's wherein he says that he won't take the vaccine for now. Yadav says, "See, I will not get vaccinated for now. And that too should I trust BJP administering the vaccine. When our government is in power, every one will be vaccinated for free. I won't get vaccinated by BJP's vaccine."

Yadav had also tweeted about the same on January 2, 2021.

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Fact Check

BOOM did a reverse image search on one of the screenshots of the viral clip and found a longer version of the same uploaded on YouTube on May 29, 2020. The person in the video is Kaukab Noorani Okarvi, a Pakistani cleric and Islamic scholar.

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The portion between timestamps 3.15 and 3.56 in the YouTube video is the clip that is now viral.

In the video, one can hear Noorani saying that doctors are killing people in the name of Coronavirus. He also appeals people to avoid going to hospitals for treatment and advises them to take precautions to fight the pandemic.

BOOM also found reports about Noorani's conspiracy theory regarding the Coronavirus pandemic. Read the reports here and here.

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