A video from 2021 of a Hindutva leader assaulting a Muslim man on a train and forcing him to touch her feet for allegedly pushing her, is being shared on social media with misleading claims linking the incident to the movie 'The Kashmir Files'.
The Kashmir Files, which was recently released, is based on the ordeal of the Kashmiri Pandits during the onset of insurgency in the Kashmir valley. The film has been heavily promoted by the Hindu right and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders with several BJP-ruled states making the movie tax-free. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also praised the film.
However, along with the buzz the movie has also generated a lot of misinformation.
One such Facebook post which includes the video claims, "looks like the auntie watched #TheKashmirFiles attentively!!"
(Original Text in Hindi: लगता है आँटीजी ने #TheKashmirFiles ध्यान से देख ली !!…)
Click here to view the post.
Also Read: Video Of Kashmiri Pandit Woman Lashing Out Falsely Linked To The Kahsmir Files
Fact Check
BOOM did a relevant keyword search on Twitter and found the same video on journalist Alishan Jafri's Twitter profile tweeted on October 18, 2021.The date indicates that the video was recorded months before the release of The Kashmir Files.
The caption with the video says, "Hindutva leader "Maa Madhura," a disciple of Yati Narsinghanand, ass@ulted a Muslim man in a train and made him touch her feet for allegedly pushing her."
Jafri also created a thread on Twitter posting several pictures of Madhu Shama which showed her connection with controversial Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Click here to view the thread.
We also found The Wire's report on the incident. The article stated, "Hindutva leader Madhu Sharma, known as Maa Madhura, was seen assaulting a Muslim man in a train and made him touch her feet for allegedly pushing her while passing through the railway coach gallery."
Furthermore, it added, "In the 41-second video, Sharma slapped the Muslim man over a dozen times and forced him to wear the skull cap while filming the act. The video was shared by Sharma on her Facebook page on October 18 (Monday). Facebook has put a "sensitive content" label on the video, but has still not made any effort to take action against it. On Twitter too, the video has been shared and glorified by a considerable number of right-wing influencers."
Also Read: Vivek Agnihotri Falsely Claims Rhode Island Recognised The Kashmir Genocide