New Delhi: The official Twitter handle of BJP Bengal on Sunday shared a clip of Mamata Bannerjee reciting Islamic prayer at an event, questioning if she can recite Islamic prayer, why does she have a problem being greeted with Jai Shree Ram.

The party also questioned if this was an appeasement to Muslims. It shared the 12-second long video with the caption “If CM Mamata Banerjee can recite an Islamic prayer at a West Bengal government event, why does she have a problem being greeted with Jai Shree Ram? Appeasement? She disgraced Bengal and insulted Netaji’s legacy by her conduct at the event to commemorate Netaji’s anniversary”.

Banerjee can be heard saying in Bengali, “We pray to Allah that he keeps everyone well,” followed by the Islamic verse, “La illaha illallah, Mohammed ur Rasul Allah.” In the video.

BJP’s allegation was soon reported by Times Now and Zee News Ghanta also aired a similar broadcast over the issue. It was also amplified by BJP leaders Priti Gandhi, Manoj Kotak, and Akshay Singh. Shefali Vaidya also shared the video.

Upon investigation, it turned out that Mamata Banerjee had chanted Islamic verses but the video tweeted by BJP was clipped out of a much longer video that was posted by AITC in January 2018. The video is of the inauguration of Mati Utsav which the CM was inaugurating and had recited prayers of Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs.

At 21:28 minutes, she prays to Hindu deity Durga to bring prosperity in everybody’s lives and goes on to chant, “Sarva Mangala Mangalye Shive Sarvartha Sadhike Sharanye Tryambake Gauri Narayani Namostute…” This is followed by Islamic prayers (22:00 minutes) that could be heard in the clipped video. At 21:15 minutes, she says, “May God bless all,” which is followed by the Sikh chants of “Wahe Guru Ji Da Khalsa, Wahe Guru Di Fateh.” In the end, she can says, “Saare jahan se acha Hindustan humara.”

BJP Bengal, therefore, tweeted a clipped video of Mamata Banerjee to portray her as a ‘Muslim sympathiser’.

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Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.

Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”

He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.

His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.

Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.

He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.

“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.