Fact Check: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath didn't laugh at martyr's funeral
Yogi Adityanath was not laughing in front of a martyr's body but at the funeral of former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari in October 2018, which had caused a major embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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India Today Fact Check
This is an old video. Yogi was caught laughing at the funeral of former UP and Uttarakhand chief minister ND Tiwari.
Misinformation centred around Pulwama martyrs targetting politicians continues to flood social media unabated. A 16-second video which has gone viral shows Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath laughing and chatting with others in front of a coffin wrapped in the Indian flag.
The message in the video is sarcastic in nature, claiming it to be the funeral of a martyr. The video along with the claim is being circulated widely on Facebook as well as other social networking sites.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the claim is wrong. Yogi Adityanath was not laughing in front of a martyr's body but at the funeral of former Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari in October 2018, which had caused a major embarrassment for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
A Facebook page Awaaz tak posted this small video clip along with the claim in Hindi which reads: "Shaheed ke shav ke paas baith kar bilak bilak kar rote huye dekho Yogi Adityanath ko (Look at Yogi Adityanath sitting beside a martyr's body and bursting into tears)." The video clip actually shows Yogi Adityanath giggling along with others.
This Facebook page was shared nearly 1,500 people at the time of writing this article.
Many users have shared this same video and claim on their Facebook pages.
Pooja Prajapati, Ashok Bhavanbhai Sisara and Rashid Shams are among the Facebook users who have posted the old video.
With the help of InVid, we found the key frames of the viral video. A simple reverse-search of one these key frames took us to an article reported by Hindi news portal Navjivan dated October 22, 2018.
This article posted the same video and reported about how Yogi Adityanath cracked a joke along with others at the funeral of ND Tiwari. Back then, this video had gone viral as people took a dig at Yogi Adityanath for his inappropriate gestures at the funeral. Bihar Governor Lalji Tandon along with two other UP ministers are also seen in the video.
YouTube channel Newstak also reported this incident.
India Today confirms that the video is from last year and has nothing to do with the Pulwama martyrs.
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