What is the claim?

A 15-second clip of Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is circulating on social media, claiming he has ‘assured protection’ for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

In the video, Singh speaks in Hindi, stating (translated), “As your defense minister, I can confidently say that forget about revoking his citizenship. No one will be able to touch him even with a finger; I can completely assure you.” 

Overlaying the clip is text in Hindi that translates to, “Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. No one can even touch Lawrence Bishnoi with a finger. Defense Ministry order.”

This viral clip has been shared on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, with similar claims. Archived links to these posts can be found here, here, and here.  

The claims emerged following the murder of Indian politician Baba Siddique, the 66-year-old leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction), who was shot dead outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra, Mumbai, on October 12, 2024. Members of the Bishnoi gang, linked to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, have claimed responsibility for the murder.

However, our investigation revealed that the viral clip is old and unrelated to Bishnoi. The original video features Singh assuring citizenship to the Muslim population amid unrest over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 (CAA).

What did we find?

A Google search revealed an extended version of the video (archived here), live-streamed on Singh’s official YouTube channel on January 29, 2020. The video, titled “RM Shri Rajnath Singh addresses public meeting in Adarsh Nagar, Delhi,” was recorded ahead of the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections.

At the 46:35 mark of the full video, Singh discusses citizenship for the Muslim population, not protection for Bishnoi. He states, “I have said this multiple times to my Muslim brothers. I say it repeatedly. You vote for me or not, that is your decision, but please don’t suspect our (Bharatiya Janata Party’s) integrity. Every Muslim citizen in India: As the defense minister of Bharat, I assure you that every Muslim is a citizen of this country. Forget about ending his citizenship; I assure you that no one will be able to touch them.”

Singh was referring to the CAA, passed by the Government of India in December 2019. This law provides an expedited pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan—countries with Muslim majorities—who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. This led to widespread protests across the country, criticizing the Act for excluding Muslims from these neighboring countries, which caused concern among the Muslim population in India regarding the potential loss of citizenship.

The same clip was also published by the news agency ANI Bharat (archived here) on January 29, 2020. A review of the video confirms that at the 0:32 timestamp, Singh reiterates his assurance of citizenship to the Muslim population, further validating that he was referring to the Muslim community, not Bishnoi.

The verdict

A four-year-old video of Rajnath Singh speaking in support of the Muslim population’s citizenship has been misrepresented, falsely claiming that the Indian defense minister supported gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

This report first appeared on logicallyfacts.com, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.