Pakistan’s “Slap Kabaddi” video goes viral with falsified claims as happened in India.

Claim
Rating
Explanation
A video of a sports game claiming “India slap fights are new trend emerging on TikTok” goes viral. The sport looks unusual, weird and visually shocking while watching two men slapping at each other. This video takes the internet by storm as many users come up with the idea that it happens in India. Twitter is flooded with such claims which can be viewed here and here.
Move aside NPCs. Indian slap fights are a new trend that’s emerging on TikTok.
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 27, 2023
Come, let’s check whether the claims are true.
What’s the truth?
While we started our research with the viral video, we noticed that the video displays some letters on top with a yellow colour mark. The text at the top of the video read, “Jahagir Pappu and Asif Jatt”.After having a closer look, we likely assumed it as the names of the players who played the game.
We took that as a cue and made a reverse search of the sensational video along with the two names mentioned in the video. Eventually, that search led us to a YouTube channel “Kabaddi da Nasha” dated February 16, 2023.
When we intensified our research, we came to know that this is an amusing game sport played in Pakistan where two men slap each other till they get worn out. In Pakistan, it is called ‘Thappad’ or Slap Kabaddi, this thrilling adaptation shifts the focus from tackling and evading to engaging in slapping contests. Unlike the traditional kabaddi game, Slap Kabaddi is played as a one-on-one sport, adding an extra layer of intensity to slapping with fun and excitement.
Haji Tassawur, a kabaddi player from Pakistan explained the rules of the game to BBC and said, “In Slap Kabaddi, two wrestlers must engage in a fight. The match is between two individuals. One player scores the point by hitting, while the other player defends to erase that point. Punches are fouls. You can slap your opponent as many times as you want, the number of slaps is not an issue.” Slap Kabaddi also known as Thappad Kabaddi, a new sport gaining popularity in Pakistan’s Punjab, reported BBC World Service. To learn more about this slap kabaddi, kindly read here.
Likewise, there are more videos of “Jahangir Pappu” playing slap kabaddi in previous years which is uploaded in the Youtube, which can be watched here and here. While going through the other videos present in it, its clear that this channel exclusively posts kabaddi games from Pakistan.
While surfing further we stumbled upon a ‘shorts’ dated June 24, 2023 from the same Youtube channel with the viral video.
Kabaddi is a popular team sport played in the rural areas of ancient India. This game was played by farmers and villagers initially to make themselves physically fit, as a form of exercise and entertainment all at the same time. Kabaddi is a team game played in India with seven players however in Slap kabaddi played in Pakistan it is a one-to-one sport.
Conclusion:
Therefore, the above viral video with false claims of slap kabaddi happening in India is untrue, whereas the sensational video is from Pakistan.