An edited video of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has surfaced online to falsely claim that she walked away from stage while the national anthem was still being played during an event.
BOOM found that the video is from a West Bengal government event and Banerjee was seen standing on stage when the instrumental version of the national anthem was being played by the police band.
The Claim
In the viral video a chorus of Jana Gana Mana can be heard while Mamata Banerjee, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim and others can be seen standing on stage. She is then seen folding her hands and walking away before the national anthem ends. A user on Facebook shared the video with the caption, "India's National Anthem is no longer finished, Mamata is already running. Where does the country's devotion to such a pro-Muslim Irori come from?" (sic)
Click here to see and here for an archive.
What We Found
Viral Video Is Edited: A banner written in Bengali behind the stage in the viral video translates to, "Honourable chief minister Mamata Banerjee will start granting widow allowance to the new applicants at Netaji Indoor Stadium." The banner carried the date as March 23, 2022 indicating the video is not from a recent event.
Taking a cue, we ran a keyword search on YouTube and found the event was streamed live by Drishtibhongi, a YouTube channel on March 23, 2022. After the end of Banerjee's speech, state minister Shashi Panja can be heard asking all to stand before the police band starts playing an instrumental version of the national anthem at the time stamp 29:38 minutes. Unlike the viral video, no chorus of the national anthem can be heard. Mamata Banerjee is seen exiting after the national anthem ends.
