Fact-Check: Edited video of Yogendra Yadav going viral with false claim related to his religion

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A video of Swaraj Party founder and social activist, Yogendra Yadav, is going viral on social media. In the video, he can be heard saying that his childhood friends and family members refer to him as Salim. Some users on social media claim that Yogendra Yadav has hidden his identity and that he is a Muslim.

Vishvas News investigated the viral post and found the claim to be false. In reality, a portion of Yogendra Yadav’s interview has been edited and shared with false claims. Upon listening to the complete video, it becomes clear that the story behind his name is unrelated to his religion. Yogendra Yadav’s entire family is Hindu.

Claim:

On June 1, Facebook user Lakshman Pai (archive link) uploaded a video from his account and wrote, “BE CAREFUL* God knows how many jihadis in between us using Hindu names. Guess no one knew him as Salim. See how for the last 2 decades we’ve been fooled to know him as Yogendra Yadav.”

Investigation:

Vishvas News used the Google Open Search tool to verify the authenticity of the viral video. The video had “JIST” written at the top. We searched using keywords such as “Yogendra Yadav JIST interview” and found the complete video on the verified Facebook page of the media company JIST. In the video, Yogendra Yadav narrates the “story” behind his childhood name “Salim.”

He explains that his grandfather, Ram Singh, was a teacher and warden in a hostel in Hisar. One day, a group of Muslims came, and they were asked to take some children out of the hostel because the students were allegedly involved in inappropriate activities at a nearby mosque. His grandfather refused to let the children out, after which the angry mob attacked and killed him.

In the video, Yogendra Yadav further explains that his father was deeply affected by this incident and decided to give Muslim names to his children. Hence, Yogendra was named “Salim” because he didn’t speak much, and the reason behind the name was never revealed. However, when he started his school education, he faced difficulties due to his name, and eventually, his name was changed to Yogendra.

We also contacted Anil Sharada, the journalist who conducted the interview of Yogendra Yadav, and asked him about the viral claim. In his response to our email, he stated, “The video of Yogendra Yadav that is going viral is incomplete and being presented in a misleading manner. Yogendra Yadav’s entire family is Hindu. There is a story behind his name ‘Salim,’ which he shared with me in the interview.”

Anil also shared the link to the interview with Vishvas News, which can be seen below. The user, Lakshman Pai, who shared the edited video is followed by over 1,200 people on Facebook.