Fact Check | An audio clip from the movie 'Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar' has been shared as the original voice of Dr Ambedkar

An audio clip, accompanied by a black-and-white photo of people seated together, is going viral on social media, where the voice speaks about Indian democracy and the depressed classes in India. It is claimed to be the original voice of Babasaheb Ambedkar from the Second Round Table Conference held in London in 1931. Let’s investigate the truth behind this audio clip.

An audio clip (here, here and here), accompanied by a black-and-white photo of people seated together, is going viral on social media, where the voice speaks about Indian democracy and the depressed classes in India. It is claimed to be the original voice of Babasaheb Ambedkar from the Second Round Table Conference held in London in 1931. Let’s investigate the truth behind this audio clip.

The archived post can be found here.

Claim: An audio clip discussing Indian democracy is the original voice of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at the Second Round Table Conference in Britain in 1931.

Fact: The voice in the viral clip is from the movie Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, which was released on 15 December 2000, directed by Jabbar Patel. The voice belongs to Indian actor Mammootty, who portrayed Dr. Ambedkar in the movie . Although it has been reported that the same speech was delivered by Ambedkar during the Fifth Sitting of the First Round Table Conference on 20 November 1930, the viral voice does not belong to him. Therefore, the claim is MISLEADING.

To verify the claim, we first conducted a reverse image search on Google using the black-and-white photo. The results revealed that the photo is from the Second Round Table Conference, held in London from 7 September to 1 December 1931, where notable figures like Mahatma Gandhi, British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar are seated together.

We conducted a Google keyword search using the text heard in the clip: “My colleague, Rao Bahadur Shrinivasan and I have the honour to place before you the point of view of the depressed classes of India.” The search results showed the text on several websites (here, here and here), with one suggesting that it was part of Dr. Ambedkar’s speech at the Plenary Session, Fifth Sitting of the First Round Table Conference, delivered on 20 November 1930. Furthermore, according to the Ministry of External Affairs, this speech is documented in the book Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 2. On page 503, the headline mentions: Fifth Sitting – 20th November 1930.

Further research led us to a YouTube video of the movie Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, released on 15 December 2000, and directed by Jabbar Patel. In the film, the role of Ambedkar is portrayed by Indian actor Mammootty. The English version of the movie is available on YouTube, and at the 1-hour 37-minute mark, we can hear the viral voice, which is Mammootty delivering the speech. This indicates that the viral voice is not Ambedkar’s original voice.

Additionally, we have reviewed Dr Ambedkar’s interview with BBC News, which was uploaded on the BBC News India channel. The interview, originally recorded in 1955, features an audio version that is significantly different from the one circulating in the viral clips.

To sum up, an audio clip from the movie Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar has been shared as the original voice of Dr. Ambedkar.

This story was originally published by Factly, and republished by Deccan Herald as part of the Shakti Collective.