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Image Credit: Twitter/Amit Malviya
BJP IT Cell Head Makes False Claims About Earth's Rotation And Rahul Gandhi's Aarti At Narmada Ghat In Omkareshwar
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 30 Nov 2022 12:10 PM GMT
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Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
The in-charge of BJP's IT department, Amit Malviya, circulated the video claiming that Rahul Gandhi performed the aarti wrong as the Earth rotates in a clockwise direction.
Amit Malviya, the BJP's IT cell head, circulated a video showing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi performing aarti at the Narmada Ghat in Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh. The in charge of BJP's IT department circulated the video claiming that Rahul Gandhi performed the aarti wrong as the Earth rotates in a clockwise direction.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi performed the 'Ma Narmada' aarti at Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh at Narmada Ghat as a part of the Madhya Pradesh leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Claim:
Amit Malviya tweeted a 5-second video of the Congress leader showing him performing aarti at Narmada Ghat. The caption of Malviya's post reads, "If only "chunavi Hindu" Rahul Gandhi knew that aarti is done clockwise and there is a scientific reason for it (earth moves in a clockwise direction and hence environmental frequencies are in sync with movement), he would not be making a spectacle of himself in public like this…".
Malviya refers to Gandhi as a 'temporary Hindu' accusing the Congress leader of using the Hindu religion as a ploy for elections. The same video is circulated with similar claims that read, "This is what happens when the son of a Catholic mother and a Parsi father pretends to be Hindu for electoral gains; he does aarti anti-clockwise."
Fact Check:
We conducted a keyword search for how aarti is performed and came across articles in Navbharat Times, Newstrack, ABP Live, and Times Now, which noted that aarti is meant to be conducted in a clockwise manner.
We then conducted a keyword search for the extended video showing Rahul Gandhi performing an aarti. We came across a tweet published on November 25, 2022, uploaded on the verified Twitter handle of the Congress. In this video, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and the priest can be seen performing aarti in the same clockwise direction.
We came across a video uploaded by Facebook user Temple Connect published on May 21, 2020, showing priests performing the Narmada aarti at Omkareshwar.
We found a video of Rahul Gandhi performing a 'Ganga aarti' at the famous Har Ki Pauri Ghat in Haridwar in February 2022. We also found a video of BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan performing an aarti in Narmada ghat in Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh. Comparing these videos, it can be seen that the aarti is being performed in a clockwise direction.
We also conducted a keyword search for the Earth's rotation. We found relevant information on the Solar System website by the space agency NASA. As per the space agency, "the Earth rotates on its axis relative to the sun every 24.0 hours mean solar time, with an inclination of 23.45 degrees from the plane of its orbit around the sun." As per the report by NASA, the Earth rotates from west to east, which is in an anti-clockwise direction.
We also came across a Mental Floss article that elaborated on the direction in which the Earth rotates. "The rotational direction helps shed light on why the sun "rises" in the east and "sets" in the west—because Earth is turning from west to east," asserts the article stating that the Earth rotates counterclockwise from west to east.
We also came across a visualisation of the Earth's rotation imaged by the Deep Space Climate Observatory, also showing the axis tilt.
Conclusion:
Amit Malviya falsely claimed that Rahul Gandhi was not aware of the correct direction to perform aarti. The video shows that the direction of the aarti performed by Gandhi is the correct way to perform the ritual as can be seen from the videos showing MP CM Shivraj Chouhan. Malviya had also made the strange claim stating that the Earth moves in a clockwise manner passing it off as a scientific fact associated with performing aartis. Thus, we can conclude that the claims made by Malviya are false.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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