India TV Fact Check: As the voting for the legislative assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh has concluded, however, videos related to the statements of state leaders are still going viral on social media. In this context, a video of Congress veteran leader and former CM of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, is circulating. It is claimed that Digvijay has stated that there is nothing wrong with eating beef. However, upon fact-checking this video, it was found that Digvijay's statement is misleading.
What is going viral?
Actually, this video has been shared on a Facebook page named BJP Kasarwad. Sharing this video on November 9, 2023, the caption reads, "Big statement by Digvijay Singh - The cow, which licks its own faeces, how can it be our mother, and there is nothing wrong with eating its beef. This is the real truth of the anti-Sanatan Congress. Think before voting."
In this video, Congress veteran leader Digvijay Singh can be seen making the statement as mentioned in the caption. Many users on Facebook have shared this video with the same claim and caption. Almost all users sharing this video are criticizing the Congress party.
India TV did fact check
When we carefully listened to this video, the clip seemed incomplete. In this 13-second video, Singh's statement seems to start from an incomplete point, and before he concludes his statement, the video is cut. Hence, we suspected that the video had been edited. Subsequently, we conducted a search on Google using keywords related to Digvijay's statement about beef, but we couldn't find any relevant news.
During this time, we came across a news article from Navbharat Times, which was published on December 25, 2021. In this news article, there was the complete statement of Digvijay Singh that is being circulated after being edited. According to this NBT article, "Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that Veer Savarkar wrote in his book that a cow is an animal that licks its own faeces, how can it be our mother, there is no harm in eating its meat. Digvijay Singh claimed about Savarkar, 'Savarkar wrote in his book that Hinduism has no connection with Hindutva. Not only that, Savarkar wrote in his book that there is no restriction in eating beef."
Dingvijay's full statement
In the news from Navbharat Times, we obtained the complete statement of Digvijay Singh, which was also tweeted by news agency ANI. In this statement, Digvijay Singh attacked the BJP, referring to a book by Veer Savarkar, stating that a cow cannot be our mother, and there is no issue with consuming beef.
What was found in the fact check
The India TV fact-check confirms that Congress leader Digvijay Singh made the statement about consuming beef, attributing it to Veer Savarkar's book. Digvijay Singh issued this statement on December 25, 2021.
