A video featuring RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat speaking at a meeting is circulating on social media platforms (here, here, and here), with the claim that he admitted that the RSS is against reservation and cannot openly express this stance. In the video, we can hear Mohan Bhagwat saying, “Sangh vaale baahar se to baaten achchhee karenge, andar jaakar kahenge aarakshan ka hamaara virodh hai, baahar ham bol nahin sakate” (Sangh people will talk good outside, but when they go inside, they will say that we are against reservation, we cannot speak outside, translated from Hindi to English). Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat stating that the RSS is against reservation and cannot openly express this stance.
Fact: The viral video is clipped. This viral video shows visuals of Mohan Bhagwat addressing a gathering in Hyderabad on 28 April 2024. In his speech, Bhagwat mentioned that a video claiming that the RSS is against reservation, and they cannot openly express this stance is going viral, which is false. He said that the RSS has been supporting all reservations as per the Constitution since the beginning of reservations, and they will continue to do so until discrimination exists. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
After carefully observing the viral video, we noticed the logo of the ANI news agency in the top right corner. Taking this as a cue and to learn more about the viral video, we conducted a relevant keyword search that led us to an extended version of the viral video uploaded on the official Twitter account of ANI on 28 April 2024. The caption of the video reads: “Hyderabad, Telangana: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat says, “A video is being circulated that RSS is against reservation and we cannot speak about this outside. Now, this is completely false. The Sangh has been supporting all reservations as per the Constitution since the beginning”.
In this video, we can hear RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat saying, “Just when I came here, yesterday I heard that a video is going around, that the Sangh people will talk nicely from outside, but when they go inside, they will say that we are against reservation, we cannot speak outside. This is completely untrue, wrong. Ever since reservation came into existence, the Sangh has given full support to all the reservations as per the Constitution. The Sangh says that as long as the people for whom the reservation is made feel it necessary or it is given for social reasons, as long as this discrimination exists, then this reservation should continue”. (translated from Hindi to English).
To sum up, a clipped video is being falsely shared as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat admitting that the RSS is against reservation and cannot openly express this stance.
This story was originally published by Factly and republished by OrissaPOST as part of the Shakti Collective.
