Rajasthan’s cyber cell has booked a photojournalist following the BJP state unit’s IT team’s complaint over an alleged “edited” video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he posted on social media.  

Jaipur police commissioner Biju George Joseph told Newslaundry the FIR was registered on Sunday. The FIR was registered under IPC sections 181, 505(1)(b), 505(1)(c), 505(2), 295A, 153A and 469, and 66D of the Information Technology Act, the commissioner said.

The video in question, shared by by the photojournalist on X on October 29, had two clips from 25 years apart, captioned: “What has happened so quickly… ‘Hindutva is a playing card to be used for the election game’.” The clips were quote-tweeted by @8PMnoCM or Rajasthani Tweet, which has 2.2 lakh followers, and captioned: “God, are you watching this? Jai Shree Ram.” 

Both the X users deleted the posts after the complaint. 

The first clip featured PM Modi’s speech from his Dussehra address in Delhi on October 24 this year. He was heard saying: “There are just a few months left for installation of Bhagwan Ram (idol). Bhagwan Ram is about to arrive.” 

The prime minister was purportedly referring to the idol slated to be installed at the under-construction Ayodhya temple in Uttar Pradesh on January 22.

The second clip, the bane of the controversy, was from a 25-year-old interview of Modi, the then BJP general secretary of the BJP. “Hindutva has never been the poll plank of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Hindutva is an article of faith for us. Hindutva is a playing card to be used for the election game,” Modi was heard saying.

The complainant in the case, BJP IT cell state coordinator Dileep Singh Rao, said he checked the authenticity of the video and found that Modi did not say Hindutva “is a playing card”, and that the alleged original clip corroborated his claim.

“With an intent to tarnish the image of the Ram temple, a symbol of crores of Hindus, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” both the X users have “spread this propaganda,” read the complaint.

‘Struggling journalist’

In response to the complaint, the photojournalist apologised for the video on X, saying it was a “human error”. 

“I also want to inform the IT cell coordinator that as soon as I was informed, the video was deleted. And I would crosscheck and be careful next time before posting any video,” the journalist’s post read.

On the journalist’s apology, Rajasthani Tweet said their X user name has also been mentioned in the complaint. However, he emphasised that photojournalist was a “struggling, poor journalist” and a victim of the BJP. “It’s disheartening to note that no one came forward for help even though 90% of journalists are struggling.”

Notably, the photojournalist in a pinned tweet on his X account has sought people’s help to help find a journalism job.

Newslaundry reached out to both Rajasthani Tweet and the photojournalist. While the anonymous X account told Newslaundry that it had received a threat of “four more FIRs” against it, the photojournalist could not be reached immediately. Rajasthani Tweet further said that it was not “the creator of the content” and just shared it, for which it has “duly apologised”.

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