Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
As Nepal is heading for General elections slated for November 20, many unverified claims linked with Nepali politicians are being circulated online. In this context, a video allegedly from an event in Gorkha where Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal was attacked has gone viral on Facebook. Newschecker found the viral claim is false as the viral video is old and not related to the current election.
CPN (Maoist) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal better known by his nom de guerre ‘Prachanda’ is contesting the election to the House of Representatives from Gorkha-2.
A video, shared as Reels by Facebook page named News 25, depicts a few security personnel grabbing a man from a seat and dragging him away from a hall. Text superimposed on the video reads, “Prachanda was attacked in Gorkha while addressing a programme.”
The video shared on November 10 has garnered 4.7k likes, 268 people have commented on it and 300 users have shared it.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker conducted a search on google using relevant keywords but couldn’t find any appropriate results. Then, we watched the video closely and noticed the logo of AP 1 television on the top right corner of the video. Taking the logo as a clue, we searched YouTube using the keyword ‘AP1 TV Prachanda attacked’ and found a video with Nepali title ‘shoe hurled at Prachanda’ matching the viral video.
On checking the video published on the YouTube Channel of AP1 HD Television on March 1, 2021, and the accompanying text, we found that the visuals showed the security personnel swinging into action after a 22-year old youth hurled a shoe at CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal at Rastriya Sabha Griha (city hall) in Kathmandu. The video text quoted Kathmandu District Police Chief Uttam Raj Subedi that the shoe didn’t hit Prachanda and the youth identified as Ratan Tiruwa from Jumla district has been taken into custody.
Further, we searched for the news of the shoe attack on Pushpa Kamal Dahal and came across a news report published on the Kathmandu Post online. On checking the news article, Newschecker learnt that the man arrested for hurling a shoe at Prachanda was a son of a former Maoist soldier who died during a decade-long armed conflict in Nepal. Prachanda, who was the supreme commander of Maoist rebels during the conflict, was addressing the first Memorial Day of late CPN-UML leader Bharat Mohan Adhikari at the City Hall in Kathmandu.
Conclusion
The viral post allegedly showing a political event of Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal from Gorkha is old and not related to the present election. The viral footage actually shows a 2020 video from Kathmandu where a youth had hurled a shoe at Dahal during a political programme.
Result : False
Sources
YouTube Channel of AP 1 HD Television
The Kathmandu Post Online
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
