FACT-CHECK: Priyanka not laughing after terror attack

“Priyanka Gandhi was laughing at press conference, Such vultures”. This tweet was posted by a Twitter user, Ankur Singh in the backdrop of the tragic terror attack in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir, which claimed lives of over 40 CRPF jawans. The 11-second video attached to the tweet showed Priyanka Gandhi, stand up saying “Bahut bahut dhanyawad” (translated: thank you very much). The term “vultures” is typically used for those who prey on the dead in a tragedy.

What’s the truth?

The 11-second clip tweeted by Ankur Singh is part of a longer video where Priyanka Gandhi is seen condoling the death of the soldiers. She starts the press conference by stating, “As you know, this press conference had been organised to discuss certain political issues. However, in view of the terror attack in Pulwama in which our jawans have been martyred, it would be inappropriate to discuss politics at this point in time“. While condoling the death of the soldiers, she stated, “I want to tell their families that the entire nation is with them at this time,” and ended the short conference by thanking the audience and urged them to maintain a two-minute silence on this tragic and solemn occasion.

Watching the video in its entirety, it is clear that Priyanka Gandhi did not laugh at any point and that a cropped version was shared to push a false narrative.

Priyanka Gandhi Press Conference from Alt News on Vimeo.

Ankur Singh is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter. He recently featured as a “tech expert’ in a debate on Mirror Now where he spoke about Twitter bias against right-wing accounts. His Twitter account was recently suspended and revoked.

Several news channels have reported about Priyanka Gandhi cancelling her press conference in wake of the unfortunate Pulwama attack.

(This article was first published on AltNews website and was reproduced here through special arrangement.)