The portion of the video where Modi discusses obtaining a BA and MA degree as well as appearing in external examinations is not included in the clip that was shared by Politician Member AICC || INC MLA Candidate (Dadri) || Former National Secretary Indian Youth Congress || Ex. LYC President G.B Nagar || Ex. AYC President Dadri Deepak Bhati Chotiwala. Dadri Deepak Bhati Chotiwala.
ना पढ़ा लिखा होना कोई अपराध नहीं है, और ना ही कोई शर्म की बात है। लेकिन हलफनामा देकर झूठ बोलना कि मैंने BA और MA. "एनटायर पॉलिटिकल साइंस" में किया है, यह जरूर अपराध है, और शर्म की बात है। उसके बाद अपनी कथित डिग्री देश की जनता से छुपाना, तो अत्यंत शर्म की बात है। pic.twitter.com/DdV9hiHKMU
— Deepak Bhati Chotiwala (@CHOTIWALA) April 1, 2023
The head of the IT department for the Congress party, Divya Spandana, also tweeted out a deceptive video clip taken from an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi that took place nearly twenty years ago. In the footage, Modi discusses his educational qualifications, giving new life to a topic that has haunted him for years.
This video is a condensed version of an interview that Modi granted Rajeev Shukla for the purpose of the latter’s show Ru-Ba-Ru. Based on Modi’s response to a question from Shukla, the audience is led to believe that he has only completed his high school education because of the clip’s false content.
बड़ी मुश्किल से विडियो ढूंढा है, ये 1998 का इन्टरव्यू है जिसमे साहब खुद कह रहे है हाई स्कूल तक पढा हूँ, लेकिन आज साहब के पास ग्रेजुएशन की डिग्री है जो 1979 मे किया था !! pic.twitter.com/zr2DLBDv6i
— Ramya/Divya Spandana (@divyaspandana) September 18, 2018
On 1st April 2023 Deepak Bhati Chotiwala released the video with a comment written in Hindi that may be loosely translated as “We have located the video with tremendous difficulty. In this interview from 1998, Saheb acknowledges that he only completed his high school education, but he is now in possession of a graduation degree for which he studied beginning in 1979!
Congress IT-cell head Divya Spandana tweeted a misleading video clip from a nearly two decade old interview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi . This claim was already taken by Divya Spandana on 18 sep 2018
Below is the transcript of the 29-second video.
Modi : “Pehli baat toh main koi padha likha vyakti nahi hoon. Parmatma ki krupa hai aur isiliye mujhe nayi nayi cheezen jaan ne ka bada shauk raha hai.” (Firstly, I am not an educated person. By god’s grace I have always had a great interest in learning new things.)
Shukla : Kitna padhe hain aap? (How much have you studied?)
Modi : Waise toh maine 17 saal ki ayu mein ghar chhod diya. Schooli shiksha ke baad mein nikal gaya. Tab se lekar aaj tak mein bhatak raha hoon nayi cheezen paane ke liye. (I left home at the age of 17. I left right after finishing my school education. Since then, I have been wandering to find new things)
Shukla : Sirf school tak padhe hain aap? Matlab primary school tak? (You have only studied till school? As in till primary school?)
Modi: High school tak (Till high school)
Fact Check
But a look at the full interview of Modi by Shukla paints a completely different picture. At the time of the interview, Modi was speaking as the general secretary of BJP general secretary during the NDA government. A search for the interview on YouTube throws up results for a 23-minute interview with Modi divided into five parts. It is in the fifth part, that Modi says he has studied “only till high school.” Soon after saying this, Modi continues with the following
“But after that on the insistence of a sangh leader, I started appearing for external examinations. I did my Bachelor of Arts from Delhi University through an external exam. But he kept insisting, so I completed my Masters of Arts via an external exam. But I have never seen a college gate.”
“Baad mein hamare sangh ke ek adhikari the unke bade agrah par main external exam dena shuru kiya. Toh Delhi University se maine BA kar liya external exam de kar ke. Phir bhi unka agrah raha toh maine MA kar liya external exam se. Maine kabhi college ka darwaza dekha nahi. University mein pehla aagaya mein”
The part where Modi speaks about appearing for examinations and obtaining BA and MA degrees is not part of the clip shared by Spandana. While Spandana soon issued a clarification by sharing an article from Alt News, the original tweet still exists and has received over 3,000 retweets and been liked more than 5,900 times.
बड़ी मुश्किल से विडियो ढूंढा है, ये 1998 का इन्टरव्यू है जिसमे साहब खुद कह रहे है हाई स्कूल तक पढा हूँ, लेकिन आज साहब के पास ग्रेजुएशन की डिग्री है जो 1979 मे किया था !! pic.twitter.com/zr2DLBDv6i
— Ramya/Divya Spandana (@divyaspandana) September 18, 2018
Observe the entire conversation here. (From 20:51 onwards)
A search that utilises the text of the tweet reveals that the video has also achieved widespread popularity on Facebook and WhatsApp.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Academic Credentials Draw Scrutiny
In 2016, the video gained attention after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned Modi’s academic credentials and requested that the Central Information Commission make that information public.
The above-edited video quickly went widespread on social media in the weeks following Kejriwal’s questions, with Congress leader Digvijay Singh tweeting the identical video in 2016 as “proof” of Modi’s educational qualification.
However, questions about Modi’s credentials as a teacher have been raised before. The Prime Minister’s office received a deluge of Right to Information Act requests for information after affidavits were filed in the 2014 general election, the 2012 state election in Gujarat, and the 2007 state election in Gujarat claimed he had a graduate and master’s degree, respectively.
Many Freedom of Information Act requests were submitted to schools in Gujarat and Delhi. Both DU and GU produced information about the degrees in response to demands from the CIC and the Delhi High court, but this only served to stir further debate. According to GU’s website, Modi graduated as a “external student” in “Entire political science,” whereas DU’s submission had errors in Modi’s name and date of birth.
There was a political uproar because of this since many people thought the degrees were faked. However, there is no concrete proof that the degrees are bogus.
