A video clip of Union Minister Smriti Irani is going viral on social media sites. On the basis of this video clip, users are claiming that Smriti Irani has made controversial and derogatory remarks about Goddess Durga.
user named ‘Sourav Adhikary’ posted on Facebook the caption in Bengali, “Friends! Don’t forget to comment on #Smriti_Irani regarding #Ma_Durga !! Smriti Irani #when #in #what_situation made ugly comments about Maa Durga which no one other than Smriti Irani knows!!” (English translation)
Fact Check
To verify the video going viral, we did a reverse search of the frames of the video. During this it came to light that this video of Smriti Irani is a part of a statement given in Parliament. The situation becomes clear after watching this video in its entirety. The controversy has been covered on India TV. A report was published by India TV under the headline, “Irani’s statement on Mahishasur issue, I also worship Durga, it was a pamphlet of JNU” (translates in English).
According to the report of India TV and News18, this case is from 2016. When the issue of Dalit student Rohit Vemula’s suicide and alleged anti-national sloganeering in JNU was being discussed in Parliament. During this discussion, Smriti Irani read a pamphlet describing it as JNU. In this pamphlet, abusive words were written about Goddess Durga. At that time the opposition opposed Smriti Irani saying that such pamphlets should not be read in the House, in which abusive words have been written about gods and goddesses and prophets. It is not in accordance with the tradition of the House to do so. The opposition had also demanded an apology from Smriti Irani on this matter.
At the same time, the viral part can be heard at 31:48 minutes in this video uploaded on YouTube. On listening to this video completely, it will be clear that Smriti Irani is referring to the pamphlet and not she is making such a statement.
Conclusion
It is clear from this fact check of DFRAC that the video of Union Minister Smriti Irani is old and is being shared with the wrong context, hence the claim of social media users is misleading.
Claim: Smriti Irani made ugly comments about Goddess Durga
Claimant: Sourav Adhikary and other social media users
Fact Check: Misleading
