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Fact Check: Video Claiming PM Referred To ‘Panj Pyare’ As His Uncle Is Fake

May 26, 2024

PM Modi did not refer to any of the ‘Panj Pyare’ as “uncle”

New Delhi:

A video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing a public rally is being widely shared on social media, claiming he said that one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, was his uncle. 

In its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that Prime Minister Modi didn’t refer to the ‘Panj Pyare’ as his “uncle”, but said that one of them was from Dwarka (referring to Bhai Mohkam Singh). A clipped video of PM’s speech was shared on social media with false claims.

The term ‘Panj Pyare’ refers to a collective name given to five men – Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh, Bhai Himmat Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh and Bhai Sahib Singh – by Guru Gobind Singh Ji during the historic and monumental assembly at Anandpur Sahib in the Punjab region of India on March 30, 1699.

Claim 

A Facebook user shared today a video of PM Modi’s public rally and claimed that he referred to one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji as his uncle. 

“Narendra Modi has claimed out of the ” Panch Pyare” of Guru Gobind Singh one of them was his uncle,” read the caption of the post. 

Investigation

PTI investigated by scanning social media platforms for similar claims, and found that the same video was shared by several other Facebook users as well. 

PTI ran the video through InVid Tool Search and found a few keyframes. On running the keyframes through Google Lens, they came across an X post, shared by Punjab BJP on May 23. 

PTI said that the video in the post was an extended version of the video shared on social media. 

“Fateh Rally: Huge enthusiasm among the public
People’s voice Punjab with Modi ji
June 4 crossed 400,” read an English translation of the caption in Punjabi. 

PTI listened to the video and noticed PM Modi saying, “Leave about being Prime Minister, I am related to you by blood. One of the ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji was from my Dwarka. I am related to you by blood.”

PTI further scanned the search results and found that the full video of the PM’s public rally in Patiala was uploaded on YouTube from the official channel of Narendra Modi on May 23. 

The Desk watched the video and noticed that the viral video was clipped from the 36:42 minute timestamp, where the PM can be heard referring to one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ being from Dwarka (present-day Gujarat).

Even in the viral video, the PM can be heard saying that one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ was from Dwarka. Nowhere can be heard referring to him as his “uncle”. 

In the next part of the investigation, PTI conducted a customised Google search and found that Bhai Mohkam Singh – the fourth of the five ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji was born in Dwarka on June 6, 1663. 

Subsequently, PTI concluded that a selected part of PM Modi’s recent election rally speech in Punjab’s Patiala was shared on social media with false claims. 

CLAIM

PM Modi referred to one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji as his “uncle”.

FACT

PM Modi did not refer to any of the ‘Panj Pyare’ as “uncle”. He instead said that one of them was from Dwarka, i.e. present-day Gujarat.

CONCLUSION

Several social media users shared a video of PM Modi and claimed that he referred to one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ of Guru Gobind Singh Ji as his “uncle”. In its investigation, the Desk found that the PM said that one of the ‘Panj Pyare’ was from Dwarka, and did not refer to as his “uncle”. The video was shared on social media with a false claim.

(This story was originally published by PTI, and republished by NDTV as part of the Shakti Collective.)