Fact Check: Does AAP govt in Punjab want to strip NRIs of property rights? Viral video clipped out of context
India Today
A viral video shows Punjab’s NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal saying that AAP govt will introduce a new law under which NRIs would lose property rights for their leased-out lands. However, The India Today AFWA found the video in circulation to be clipped.
A video of Punjab’s NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal went viral on social media. In the video, the minister purportedly told reporters that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government would implement a new law under which NRIs would lose property rights to their lands on lease.
In the video, the minister was seen saying, “If an NRI’s land is continuously on lease with someone, then the NRI would automatically lose ownership of that land. The ownership of that land would automatically end for the NRI. We don’t want any NRIs to lose their property through this judgment.”
The video was shared with captions like, “These NRI’s wanted ‘Inqlaab’ in Punjab. They were the ones who flew in to support Kejriwal and poured in lots of money for him. This law will apply to those NRIs who support Khalistan.” Inqlaab here referred to the AAP’s election promise.
In the viral video, we noticed the logo of Pro Punjab TV at the top right corner. We searched for this interview on the official Facebook page of Pro Punjab TV and found a longer version of it from March 12.
In this longer version of the video, Dhaliwal was speaking about a Supreme Court ruling on property rights and how under this ruling the NRIs could lose the ownership of their land given on lease. He also said he discussed the matter with the Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V Muraleedharan.
Around the three minutes ten seconds mark, the minister could be heard saying, “One important issue we discussed was the Supreme Court ruling that says if for 12 continuous years an NRI’s land is on lease with someone, then the NRI would automatically lose the ownership of that land. If this is implemented, then lakhs of NRIs would automatically lose their land. So we request the Foreign Minister to take action on this matter either in Parliament or file a case in the honourable Supreme Court. We don’t want an NRI to lose their property due to this judgment.”
The same video was also uploaded on the verified YouTube channel of Pro Punjab TV.
