No, video does not show Kanhaiya Kumar asking people to convert to Islam

What is the claim?

A video of Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar is being shared on social media with the claim that he is inviting people to convert to Islam.

In the video, Kumar can be heard saying, “Our history is connected to this place. All of us have not come walking from Arabia. We have grown up here and the speciality of this religion is that the old religion has untouchability which is why people converted to this religion. Because it talks about peace, it talks about equality. There are no hierarchies in a mosque and we have adopted this religion. We will not leave it. We will save ourselves and while saving the community, we will also save the country. This is our foundational responsibility. Allah has a lot of strength, Allah will protect us. (sic)”

Sharing the video on X (formerly Twitter), users have claimed that Kumar is inviting people to convert to Islam, and that people like him should not be considered Hindus as they are fooling other Hindus under the garb of Hinduism. Archived versions of such posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

Post on X claiming that Kanhaiya Kumar is inviting people to convert to Hinduism (Source:X)

However, we found that this video is from 2018 from Nanded, Maharashtra, where Kumar was addressing a community of Muslims. The video has been edited to show that Kumar has converted to Islam and is appealing for people to convert, too.

What is the truth?

Using relevant keywords, we found that the video was posted in August 2018 on One Channel on YouTube with the title, “कन्हैया कुमार ने नांदेड़ में मुस्लिम समाज के बुद्धिजीवी लोगो के सवालो के दिए जवाब” which translates to “Kanhaiya Kumar answers questions by intellectuals from the Muslim community in Nanded.”

According to the information in the video, Kumar was participating in a function in Nanded on August 25, 2018, titled ‘Conversation with Kanhaiya’. The function was organized by All India Tanzeem-e-Insaaf on the topic ‘Minority issues and their solutions.’

At timestamp 11:50 into the video, Kumar is heard saying, “The first education minister of the country, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, said from the stairs of the Jama Masjid that this country belongs to everybody. We will not go anywhere just because someone tells us to. Even our sweat and blood has been spent in the building of this country. Our history is connected to this place. All of us have not walked from Arabia and come here… we will not leave from here and then the Muslims of this country decided to stay in this country itself.”

We found that the original video has been clipped from timestamp 12:03 and circulated online. Kumar was referring to the speech given by Azad at Jama Masjid in 1947, and not stating that he is Muslim.

The part in the viral video, where Kumar says, “We will save ourselves and while saving the community, we will also save the country…” is found at timestamp 16:00 in the original video.

The part in the viral video, where Kumar says, “Allah is very strong. Allah will protect us” has been taken from timestamp 15:03 to 15:23 in the original video, where Kumar is talking about fiercely replying to those who masquerade as protectors of faith. Kumar says, “Anyone who masquerades as a protector of the community and claims that they will protect religion should be given a fierce reply by you, by saying that Allah is very strong. Allah will protect us. We don’t want protectors of religion. We want one who talks about education, talks about employment for us…(sic).”

This proves that the video of a 2018 speech by Kumar, addressing the Muslim community in Nanded, has been edited and taken out of context to promote a false narrative on social media.

Speech by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad at Jama Masjid

In 1947, the first Education Minister of India, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, addressed Muslims at the Jama Masjid. Kumar referred to this speech in his 2018 address to Muslims in Nanded, Maharashtra.

However, we found that Azad did not use the exact words Kumar attributes to him. Kumar was also quoting Azad and not speaking for himself. 

Kumar was also not a part of the Congress party when this video was recorded. The video is from 2018, and Kumar only joined the Congress in 2021.

The verdict

We mark this claim as false as the original video has been edited and taken out of context to show that Kanhaiya Kumar is appealing to people to convert to Islam. 

(Translated by Soham Shah)