Two old videos of Asaduddin Owaisi are viral claiming they show reactions of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 passed earlier in April.
BOOM found that the viral videos are not connected to the recent bill and date back to January 2025 and August 2024.
On April 4, India's parliamentary houses passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill with the Lok Sabha approving it on April 2, 2025 and subsequently by the Rajya Sabha. The bill has been a point of contention with religious Muslim leaders opposing the same. AIMIM chief Owaisi has since opposed the bill and moved Supreme Court challenging its constitutionality. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 received the Presidential nod on April 5.
The first video, shows Owaisi having tea with other parliamentarians and the second video shows him removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. The videos are viral with false claims that they show Owaisi laughing and then crying, respectively, over the bill.
The first video was shared by several right wing handles including Hindutva Knight (@HPhobiaWatch), @KreatelyMedia, and Rishi Bagree.
BOOM has previously fact-checked these handles for posting misinformation on X
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the videos of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi are old, not linked to the recently passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The first video, where Owaisi is seen laughing, is from January 2025, when members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee met to scrutinise the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, over tea after adopting the draft report. The second video shows Owaisi rubbing his eyes and removing his spectacles at LS session in August 2024, with this gesture falsely viral claiming he was crying.
Video 1
A reverse image search on keyframes from the video, showed results from January 2025.
According to media reports on the video, Owaisi was with other members of Joint Parliamentary Committee for a discussion on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024. ANI also carried the video reporting that it shows members including Owaisi interacting with committee chairman MP Jagadambika Pal.
News agency PTI posted the same video on January 29, 2025, reporting that the Joint Parliamentary Committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill met over tea after adopting its draft.
Video 2
BOOM found the same video posted on August 7, 2024 by the party on its official Instagram account
According to the caption, Asaduddin Owaisi was raising concerns about taxes on the poor and middle class during the monsoon session of Parliament.
We then checked the live broadcast of session for the said date on Sansad TV’s YouTube channel and found the same sequence at the 04:32-minute mark when MP Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav is speaking.
In the live video, Owaisi, seated behind Yadav, removes his spectacles, rubs his eyes and then wears them back.
We found no instance from the session where Owaisi was crying.
Additionally, BOOM also did not find any credible news reports to support the claim that Owaisi cried after the Waqf Amendment bill was passed.
