Twitter
Advertisement

Fact check: Truth behind viral video of Chinese TV program showing cartoon of Prophet Muhammad with Asian features

The viral clip depicts the scene of an Arab ambassador gifting a portrait of Prophet Muhammad to the Chinese emperor during the rule of the Tang dynasty.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Amid French President Emmanuel Macron defending the right to publish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, a new video has been going viral on the internet from a Chinese TV show. In the video, the Prophet is depicted with Asian features, with many Twitter users now asking if the Muslim world will now boycott Chinese goods. 

The comments come in light of the recent call for a ban on French products after President Emmanuel Macron's comments. For the uninformed, Macron's comments came at a time of several violent incidents in France, including the beheading of a French teacher, Samuel Paty, by a teenager for showing cartoons of the Prophet to his students.

The video of the Chinese TV show was shared by Arslan Hidayat, an Uyghur rights activist. It was a clip from the state-run China Central Television’s (CCTV) show on Twitter and said it depicts the scene of an Arab ambassador gifting a portrait of Prophet Muhammad to the Chinese emperor during the rule of the Tang dynasty.

Besides asking for a boycott of Chinese goods, netizens also questioned Pakistan's silence over the controversial picture.

Fact check

In the wake of so many comments, The Print did a fact check on the viral video to find that it is from a CCTV show called The Glorious Times of the Tang Dynasty. However, the show aired more than a decade ago and was not recently broadcast as claimed by many.

Reports also referred to a French blog titled "The portrait of the Prophet Muhammad in the Chinese kingdom", which was published on 26 December 2008, talking about how Uyghur Muslims had criticised the show.

The blog read, "And when we open the portrait, covered by a golden fabric, we see the ‘photo of the prophet’! Funny photo besides: obviously the Chinese imagine that the prophet looks like Asians !!!"

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement