The Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case over a doctored video circulating on social media platforms showing Union Home Minister Amit Shah advocating for the abolition of reservation quotas for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The video, which has sparked controversy and allegations of misinformation, has prompted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to file a complaint seeking action against those responsible for it.

In response to concerns raised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding the authenticity of the video, the Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on Sunday. The BJP has denounced the video by saying that it has been manipulated to distort Mr Shah’s original statements made during a political rally.

According to BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya, the video in question has been altered to misrepresent Mr Shah’s remarks on the issue of reservation quotas for Muslims in Telangana. 

“Congress is spreading an edited video which is completely fake and has the potential to cause large-scale violence. Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about removing the unconstitutional reservation given to Muslims, on the basis of religion, after reducing the share of SCs/STs and OBCs. This fake video has been posted by several Congress spokespersons. They must be prepared for legal consequences,” Mr Malviya said on Saturday.

.@INCTelangana is spreading an edited video, which is completely fake and has the potential to cause large scale violence.
Home Minister Amit Shah spoke about removing the unconstitutional reservation given to Muslims, on the basis of religion, after reducing share of SCs/STs and… pic.twitter.com/5plMsEHCe3

— Amit Malviya (मोदी का परिवार) (@amitmalviya) April 27, 2024

The controversy surrounding the video escalated as various social media handles, including official accounts affiliated with the Congress, shared the doctored footage, alleging that it revealed the BJP’s “agenda to abolish SC/ST reservation quotas”. These claims have drawn sharp criticism from BJP leaders, who accuse the Congress of disseminating false information with the potential to incite social discord.

The MHA has attached a comprehensive report to its complaint, identifying the links and handles responsible for sharing the doctored video of the Home Minister.

With the FIR now registered, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) Unit of the Delhi Police Special Cell has begun its investigation into the origins of the fabricated video. 

Pro-Palestine protests at US universities, triggered by Israel’s war against Hamas, spread over the weekend as police crackdowns and arrests continued into another week.
Protesters at Harvard University raised a Palestinian flag at the Ivy League school in a spot usually reserved for the US flag. They also unfurled an enormous Palestinian flag from a top-floor window at the Washington Hilton Hotel, the venue of the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.
Police arrested around 275 people on four separate campuses. They include 100 at Northeastern University in Boston, 80 at Washington University in St Louis, 72 at Arizona State University, and 23 at Indiana University.
Clashes between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators were reported at UCLA, where a tent encampment was set up last week.
The nationwide protests have caught the attention of President Joe Biden with the White House saying the demonstrations must remain peaceful.
The campus activists are calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas and want colleges to sever ties with the country and with companies they say profit from the conflict in Gaza.
The protests pose a major challenge to university administrators who are trying to balance commitments to free expression with complaints that the rallies have veered into anti-Semitism and hate speech.
Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “reiterated his clear position” on a possible invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah.
The Israel-Hamas war broke out after Hamas operatives staged an unprecedented attack on Israeli towns on October 7 and left around 1,170 people dead. They also took roughly 250 people hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has since then killed more than 34,00 people in Gaza.

Delhi Police filed an FIR over a doctored video of Amit Shah’s speech advocating reservation abolition. BJP also objected to the authenticity of the video being circulated and denounced it by asserting that the video has been manipulated to distort Shah’s original statements. The Special Cell plans nationwide arrests following complaints of creating disharmony among communities for public order issues.