Recently, a particular video which has apparent claims that a BJP minister “forced” a Muslim MLA to chant “Jai Shri Ram” live on camera has been going viral on social media. This video was heavily popularised by mainstream media houses spreading the claims.

The video that is being shared by social media users is actually a cropped version of the original video. This cropped version was initially popularised and spread by mainstream media like NDTV, Times Now, Indian Express and News 18. All of their claims made it seem as though the BJP minister CP Singh had forced the Congress MLA Imran Ansari to chant “Jai Shri Ram”. The same was spread by social media users as well.

Rana Ayyub tweeted, "I don't feel like checking twitter these days. It is triggering. It is frustrating, it is making me bitter and the silence of the privileged majority around me is just making it worse."

However, the context of the original video is far from the claims. In the original length video, we can see that Ansari is initially explaining to the reporters about how Ram is for everyone in the country and not only BJP. This statement of his was later repeated to CP Singh who was no paying attention when Ansari was speaking and probably did not hear what Ansari had told. Following that, Singh said that he definitely agrees to what Ansari said and that he should also chant “Jai Shri Ram” as it belongs to everyone and not only to BJP. He also tried to raise Ansari's hand. This led to Ansari laughing and showing a religious Hindu thread around his arm.

You can watch the full video here:

Moreover, it can be seen that Ansari was not “forced” to chant “Jai Shri Ram” as reported by the media, Singh had brought it up in a conversational manner. When Ansari asked him not to use the slogan to create fear, Singh started saying that even his(Ansari) ancestors were Hindu.

Ansari also later starts talking about the situation of “Ram in Ayodhya” and how poorly maintained it is. Though Ansari laughed it off and CP Singh was simply responding to Ansari’s comments, the conversation between the two seemed to be a little heated. Thus, cropping out the part of the video which provides context to the arisen situation of religious talk, the media and fake news mongers were successful in spreading the misleading claims.

In conclusion, BJP Minister CP Singh did not “force” Congress MLA Imran Ansari to chant “ Jai Shri Ram”. The part where he asks the MLA to chant “Jai Shri Ram” is his reply to Ansari’s criticism that the BJP think that the slogan belongs to them. Since Ansari claimed that the slogan is for everyone, Singh suggested that he can also chant it. CP Singh’s manner of talking and the cropped video might make it look as if he is “forcing” the Muslim MLA to chant the slogan, however, that is not the original context.