The viral claim of empty chairs at PM Modi’s ‘Hala Modi’ event  in Kuwait is false

The viral video shows the stage before the beginning of the Hala Modi program in Kuwait.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kuwait on 21-22 December 2024, becoming the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Kuwait after a gap of 43 years. At the invitation of His Highness the Amir of the State of Kuwait, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, P M Modi paid an official visit to the country. Against this backdrop, a video has now started circulating on social media, claiming that there was no audience to attend Modi’s event in Kuwait, that all the chairs were empty at his ‘Hala Modi’ event.

The post features a video of the event’s stage, titled Hala Modi. Watching the video, it is evident that Modi is not onstage. Two or three people are standing on stage. Modi’s image and the words ‘Hala Modi’ are visible on the screens mounted on both sides and above the stage.

Archive link

Fact Check-

We began our search with the reverse image search on Google and the results led us to the same video uploaded on Facebook on 20 December 2024 with the caption, “Preparations in full swing for PM Modi’s ‘Hala Modi’ event at Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Sports Complex, Kuwait, on Dec 21”.  

PM Modi addressed Indian expatriates at the Hala Modi event in Kuwait. Which was also covered by many media houses. It can be clearly seen in those videos that a crowd of people had gathered at the event to listen to PM Modi. There is no empty space anywhere in PM Modi’s ‘Hala Modi’ program.

 The video of the Prime Minister’s speech has been posted on the PMO India YouTube channel. 

Further investigation of the viral video’s audio reveals another level of misinformation. The viral video is of the Prime Minister’s speech in English. However, Modi spoke in Kuwait in Hindi. When we searched for the speech in the video, which starts with “Friends, this Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is special in many ways,” The audio includes an excerpt of Modi’s English speech delivered at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas event in January 2023. A keyword search led us to the original speech video, which was published on Modi’s official YouTube account on January 9, 2023. The audio has been edited into the viral video to make it appear to be from the Kuwait event.

Thus, it is evident that the viral video claiming low attendance at Modi’s Kuwait visit is both misrepresented and edited. 

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo found the claim along with the viral video to be False. The viral video shows the stage before the beginning of the Hala Modi program in Kuwait. PM Modi addressed a large crowd. The speech heard in the background was edited and added.