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.
Claim
Former Attorney General and Professor Yubaraj Sangraula cursed Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli in his public speech.
Fact
The viral video is edited.
A video allegedly showing former Attorney General and Professor Yubaraj Sangraula using curse words on Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is going viral on TikTok.
TikTok user @loken.tmg21 posted a video showing a clip of speech by Dr Yubaraj Sangraula with the text superimposed on the video reading, “Yubaraj Sangraula called Prime Minister Oli Fataha Saala [Common curse words used in Nepal]. Prachanda [UCPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal ] laughed uncontrollably.” In the clip, Sangraula says, “The person who became the prime minister with our votes is regarded honourable. How could we expect the leader, who we have put on the pedestal, to serve the people? Fataha Saala [common swear words], shame on you.” The 17-minute clip also shows visuals of KP Sharma Oli and Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal.
The video posted on August 20 has garnered 9105, 615 users have shared it and 759 people have commented on it.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the video, Newschecker ran a search on YouTube by using Nepali keywords ‘Dr Yubaraj Sangraula’ and found a video, dated August 19, 2024, posted on the YouTube channel named Hulak Sanchar resembling the viral video.
On thoroughly checking the 53-minute long video, we found that the footage from 46.44-minute to 46.49-minute matched the first footage of the viral video. In the clip, Sangraula says, “The person who became the prime minister with our votes is regarded as an honourable post.” He goes on to say it is an irony that the general public who vote for the leaders are not honourable.
Further, we found another clip from 47.39-minute to 47.43-minute that exactly matched the second part of the viral video. In the video, Sangraula says, “How could we expect the leader, who we have put on the pedestal, to serve the people? He adds that it is high time we thought seriously about this country.
We also found another clip from 49.52-minute to 49.55-minute matching the third footage of the viral video. In the clip, Sangraula says, “Fataha Saala, same on you.” In the video, Sangraula before wrapping up his speech, he was cursing the people who dubbed him as a Chinese agent. He says that our rulers should stop making decisions in favour of India, China and the US.
Thus, our findings clearly showed that the viral video was randomly edited to make it appear and sound like Dr Sangraula cursing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
Conclusion
No, former Attorney General and Professor Yubaraj Sangraula didn’t curse Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. The viral video is edited and created by stitching together various .
Result: Altered Video
Sources
Hulak Sanchar, August 19, 2024
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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.
