Did Uddhav Thackeray Call Abhijet Dipke An Avatar Of Vishnu? A FactCheck
BOOM found that Thackeray was referring to the young protesters and their parents gathered at Jantar Mantar, and did not describe Dipke as an avatar of Vishnu.
A video interview of Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray with his party MP Sanjay Raut, in which he describes young Cockroach Janta Party protesters as avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu, is being shared with the false claim that he was referring to CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke.
BOOM found that Thackeray was referring to the young protesters and their parents gathered at Jantar Mantar, a point he reiterated three times during the interview.
SS UBT had publicly backed the CJP protest at Jantar Mantar and, following police action against demonstrators on July 20, organised solidarity protests in Mumbai in support of the young protesters.
The Claim:
The 11 seconds video was posted by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Tajinder Bagga claiming that Thackeray called Dipke an avatar of Vishnu.
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What We Found:
1) Protesters and their parents an avatar of Vishnu: Thackeray
We watched the complete 43.47 minutes interview that was posted on SS UBT's official YouTube channel on July 26. The section in the viral video has been taken from 3.21 minutes times timestamp where Thackeray describes the protesters including their parents an Avatar of Vishnu.
2) Vishnu avatar comparison repeated three times during interview
Thackeray repeats the comparison at least three times during the interview, first at the 3:13 mark and again at 18:12, and at 37.18 minutes.
3) Thackeray's Dipke mention
Thackeray refers to Dipke only once, at the 22:29 mark. He says Dipke had been studying in the United States and could have stayed there to pursue a job, but instead returned to India to join the protest. Thackeray adds that several other young men and women had made similar choices and had been protesting for nearly a month.
The complete interview can be seen below:
