Was Jawaharlal Nehru Slapped by Swami Vidyanand Videh in 1962? Here's a Fact-Check as Image With Fake Claims Goes Viral
The social media posts, as shared here, claim that Swami Videh was offended after Nehru in his speech said that Aryans had arrived as "refugees" in India. Aggrieved over his alleged remark, the saint - who was seated as chief guest at the event's dias - went upto Nehru and slapped him. Those who narrate this sequence of events cite the book "Nehru: Utthan aur Patan".
New Delhi, January 20: The image of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, being pulled back by his security forces amid ruckus, has went viral again on social media. The photograph is accompanied by identical texts claiming that the image was captured after Nehru was slapped by Swami Vidyanand Videh at public event following the Sino-Indian war of 1962. With Derogatory Jibes at 1st PM of India, Twitter Trolls Plunge Discourse to Another Low.
The social media posts, as shared below, claim that Swami Videh was offended after Nehru in his speech said that Aryans had arrived as "refugees" in India. Aggrieved over his alleged remark, the saint - who was seated as chief guest at the event's dias - went upto Nehru and slapped him. Those who narrate this sequence of events cite the book "Nehru: Utthan aur Patan" written in 1963.
Here Are Few of Such Social Media Posts
Nehru Wanted to Retaliate but Held Back, Says This Twitter User
Identical Messages Shared
'Was Slapped Post 62 Debacle', Claim Twitterati
Fact-Check
A fact-check has, however, revealed that those sharing the social media posts are spreading false information. Back-searching of the viral image on Google led to an Outlook magazine article. The caption which accompanies the image states that Nehru was clicked when his security personnel prevented him from falling into a "riotous crowd" of Congress workers and supporters in Patna.
"Braced for the worst: Nehru is prevented from plunging into a riotous crowd in 1962, before the war," the caption read, while the image was credited to the Associated Press (AP). On searching for the image on the international news agency, it was found that Nehru was clicked by the AP photographers while addressing an Indian National Congress session in Patna.
The caption on the AP website further reads that the image was captured days before the Sino-Indian war of 1962. Therefore, the claim made by Twitterati that Swami Videh also lambasted the then Indian PM for India's drubbings in the Sino-Indian war is untrue.
"A security man grabbed Indian Prime Minister Nehru to keep him from plunging into a riotous crowd at a meeting of the Congress Party in Patna, India, January 1962. Later in the year, Communist China's attack on India plunged Nehru into new troubles," states the caption on AP website.
Check Screenshot Below
Nehru, who presided over as India's first Prime Minister in 1947 and got elected with outright majorities in the general elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962, has turned into a polarising figure in contemporary politics. While the Congress considers him as a beacon of liberal and progressive Indian values, the ruling BJP and its ideological affiliates view the late freedom fighter as the source of some archaic issues which the nation faces to this date.
Fact check
Nehru was slapped by by Swami Vidyanand Videh in 1962?
The claim of Nehru being slapped is fake. The then Indian PM was clicked in the image shared above while he was surrounded by Congress supporters at a public meeting in Patna.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 20, 2020 07:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).