An old video of actor Vivek Oberoi praising women belonging to the Bishnoi community has surfaced online as recent, amidst rumours of fresh death threats to Bollywood actor Salman Khan.
"There is only one community in the world, the Bishnoi community... where Bishnoi mothers breastfeed the orphaned deer like their own children," Oberoi can be seen saying in the video.
The video has surfaced with users claiming that Oberoi praised the Bishnoi community, which revers the blackbuck, and sent a cryptic message to Salman Khan, who was allegedly involved in hunting the animal during the filming of Hum Saath Saath Hai in Rajasthan. Khan has since been a target of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and has received death threats for his alleged involvement.
Politician Baba Siddique, a close friend of Khan, was shot dead on October 12 night with Lawrence Bishnoi gang taking responsibility for the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) leader's killing. Since then the Mumbai Police have been on edge over increasing death threats to Khan.
Oberoi made headlines in the early 2000s for his bitter feud with Khan over the former's relationship with actor Aishwarya Rai, who Khan had previously dated.
The video was shared by controversial film critic Kamaal R Khan with the caption, "Haha! kahin Pe Nigahen, Kahin Pe Nishana! Vivek Oberoi is still targeting his enemy!"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
Fact Check
BOOM found that the viral video of Oberoi is old and unrelated to the recent developments. It shows Oberoi's remarks at a conference in Dubai on February 4, 2023, where he spoke about the Bishnoi community's efforts at tackling environmental challenges.
A related keyword search on Google led us to a YouTube video from February 4, 2023, featuring the same remarks by Oberoi. In the extended version of the video, we found that Oberoi was attending a programme titled 'Global Environmental Challenges & Their Redressal in the Principles of the Bishnoi Society,' as seen by the posters on stage.
We also came across several news reports about the event.
An article published by Dubai-based newspaper Khaleej Times on February 9, 2023, reported that the Bishnoi community from Rajasthan, India, organised the event in Dubai on February 4 and 5 to honor the 363 Khejarli martyrs and promote the important message of environmental preservation from India to the UAE.
The same portion of the viral video can be heard from the 1:05:00 to 1:05:28 timestamp in the live stream.
