On 30th April, Congress confirmed that Reetam Singh, a man arrested for sharing a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding reservation, was indeed the party’s war room coordination. However, reacting to the fake video he posted, Congress leader and chairperson of the Assam Congress media cell Bedabrata Borah said the post was done by Reetam in a personal capacity and had nothing to do with the party. Congress Party appeared to have thrown Reetam Singh under the bus to save itself from the backlash.
Speaking to Times Now, Borah said that the party has raised the issue of arresting their war room coordinator late at night. He confirmed that Reetam was in judicial custody. When asked about the video, he said, “It was a personal matter. It is not related to Congress. Whatever he has done, he did in his capacity. However, he is Congress’s war room coordinator. Whatever he posted on Facebook or Twitter was done in his capacity.”
The party condemned the arrest and claimed that he was arrested for criticising the government’s policies that were detrimental to democracy. Borah said, “Assam Congress chief Bhupen Borah has also condemned the arrest of Reetam Singh and demanded his immediate release.”
Speaking to IANS, he added, “Reetam Singh was arrested for a tweet; however, no action was taken against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma after he issued a provocative statement to set ablaze Sonia Gandhi’s house in the national capital. Thirty cases are pending against Badruddin Ajmal, yet he has not been arrested. The BJP’s way of functioning is a threat to democracy.”
HM Shah criticised Congress for sharing a fake video
Reacting to the fake video, Union Home Minister Amit Shah played both real and fake video during a press conference and said, “Giving quota on religious lines is unfair and cannot be allowed. We have already removed it in Karnataka. This was what I had said in the video. The fake video twisted it to say the BJP will scrap all reservations.” He added that the BJP would not remove reservations for SC, ST and OBC and would not allow anyone to do so. “This is Modi’s gaurantee,” he added.
HM Shah said, “Rahul Gandhi says that if the BJP gets 400 seats, it will remove reservations. I want to say that we had a full majority for two terms, but Narendra Modi is a supporter of reservation. I want to say that it is a Modi guarantee that neither will the BJP remove reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs nor will it allow anyone to do so.”
“The Congress has now resorted to misleading citizens with fake videos out of panic and fear of defeat. The right to reservations in the country belongs to SC, ST, and OBC brothers and sisters, and as long as the BJP government is in office, no one can change it. The INDI Alliance has given reservations to Muslims, reducing the share of SCs, STs, and OBCs. Congress is misleading people by editing a speech of mine in which I committed to abolishing the unconstitutional reservations for Muslims. Directions have been issued to the police to address this issue as per the law. If you come across any such fake video anywhere, please inform us about the details of the disseminator. We will take strict action against the culprits,” HM Shah said in a post on X.
Reetam Singh, one of the fake news peddlers on social media arrested in a doctored video case, has a history of not only sharing fake news but also threatening people. In fact, he has been threatening OpIndia’s editor-in-chief Nupur J Sharma for years. He tried to doxx and leak the address and other personal details of Nupur J Sharma after OpIndia reported that he was linked to anti-CAA protests.