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Image of rape-accused from Gujarat viral as a farmer beaten up by Rajasthan police - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
6th June 2018 / 5:49 pm / Last updated: 9th July 2018
“राजस्थान में एक गरीब किसान द्वारा बैंक के कर्जे ना चुकता कर पाने पर सरेआम रस्सियों से बाँध कर पीटती हुई पुलिस…” (A poor farmer in Rajasthan was tied with ropes and beaten in public by the police after he was unable to repay his bank loan.) (Translation) Accompanying these words an image posted on June 1, 2018, by a Facebook page ‘I Support Ravish Kumar’. The image shows a policeman beating an elderly man with a stick. The man is tied with ropes. At the time this article was written, the post was shared more than 25,000 times from the page that has more than 9 lakh followers.
राजस्थान में एक गरीब किसान द्वारा बैंक के कर्जे ना चुकता कर पाने पर सरेआम रस्सियों से बाँध कर पीटती हुई पुलिस…
Posted by I Support Ravish Kumar on Friday, 1 June 2018
Several other pages and individual users have shared this image. A Facebook user named Pradeep Bhattacharya posted the picture on his timeline on May 30 and it received more 9,000 shares. However, he credited the photo to one Anil Maurya. A page named ‘Bhakto ka baap Ravish Kumar’ had also shared the post with its 1 lakh followers on May 30. It was shared more than 1,000 times. Another Facebook page named ‘Haryana ki baat’ with nearly 1 lakh followers circulated the image as well.
The post is also shared on Twitter, with the caption: “A farmer in Rajasthan being strapped, held captive and beaten in public by police for his inability to repay Rs 1,000 loan. Where’s justice?”
A farmer in Rajasthan being strapped, held captive & beaten in public by police for his inability to repay Rs 1,000 loan..Where’s Justice? pic.twitter.com/qsoc2JpPk1
— Comrade Rahel (@Surabhi54775588) May 30, 2018
Using Google reverse image search option, Alt News found that the image is from 2016 and has no link to either Rajasthan or farmers. The image is of an incident that took place in Rajkot, Gujarat. The elderly man in the picture was tied and beaten by the policeman because he was accused of raping his daughter-in-law. In a report by Hindustan Times, dated April 10, 2016, the same image can be seen. Alt News does not endorse such unconstitutional mechanisms of dealing with alleged criminals, however the report below proves that the incident occurred in 2016 and has no relation to what is being claimed on social media.
Alt News had earlier reported when ‘I Support Ravish Kumar’ page posted a fake quote, which can be read here.
A video demonstration of the fact-check can be seen below.
It is true that the India is going through a period of agricultural crisis and the cases of farmer suicides continue across the length and breadth of the country. Farmer organisations in many parts of India have also taken out protests against government policies, both state and centre. Consequently, there are more than enough pictures which represent the current plight of farmers in India. However, using a photo of an unrelated incident and placing it out of context is unacceptable.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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The teaser of a movie titled ‘The Kerala Story’ is being widely shared on social…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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6th June 2018 / 5:49 pm / Last updated: 9th July 2018
|
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/image-of-rape-accused-from-gujarat-viral-as-a-farmer-beaten-up-by-rajasthan-police/",
"author": "Priyanka Jha"
}
|
1,545 |
Image of symbolic 'one eye bandaged' protest shared as CAA protesters faking injury - Alt News
Archit & Kinjal
4th January 2020 / 9:52 pm / Last updated: 9th January 2020
Since the past few days, an image of a Muslim woman with a bandage on her eye during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been shared by many. The woman is being ridiculed for wrapping the bandage over her hijab, indicating that she is faking her injury. On December 30, Abhijat Mishra, National General Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, tweeted, “Do not be afraid, it is a good thing … but first, tell which doctor wrapped the bandage over the hijab. There is a limit to lie as well. #IndiaSupportsCAA (Translated from तुम ना डरो अच्छी बात है… लेकिन पहले ये बताओ कि वो कौन सा डॉक्टर है जिसने हिजाब के ऊपर से पट्टी बांध दी, मतलब हद होती है झूठ की !! #IndiaSupportsCAA)”
तुम ना डरो अच्छी बात है…
लेकिन पहले ये बताओ कि वो कौन सा डॉक्टर है जिसने हिजाब के ऊपर से पट्टी बांध दी 🤔
मतलब हद होती है झूठ की !! 😂😂#IndiaSupportsCAA pic.twitter.com/kcIyDCFWCL
— Abhijat Mishra (@AbhijatMishr) December 30, 2019
On December 31, Swami Nishchalanand tweeted the same image and said, “Such a hurry to appear before TV camera that this ‘fake’ activist got a ‘fake’ bandage wrapped over her hijab… or was it a madarsa-trained ‘doctor’ who did it?”
On January 2, Kuljeet Singh Chahal, general secretary BJP-Delhi, tweeted the same image along with the text posted by Mishra. This post was retweeted and liked more than 2,000 and 9,000 times respectively. Chahal’s tweet was later quote-tweeted by Paresh Rawal, actor and former BJP MLA, who said, “The doctor who did this must-have bandage on his eye too! [Translated from ये वोह डॉक्टर होगा जिसकी अपनी आँख पे पट्टी बंधी होगी !]. Rawal’s tweet received over 15,000 likes and more than 3,000 retweets.
ये वोह डॉक्टर होगा जिसकी अपनी आँख पे पट्टी बंधी होगी ! https://t.co/W2ACSbecXd
— Paresh Rawal (@SirPareshRawal) January 2, 2020
Madhu Kishwar made the same allegation.
Subsequently, several users have shared the same post on Twitter and Facebook.
Taking a closer look at the viral image, a watermark at the bottom left is spotted that reads ‘Zafar Abbas.’ Abbas is a New Delhi-based journalist who had shared the image on December 29.
Jamia today ! pic.twitter.com/qQp1IXLkCA
— Zafar Abbas (@zafarabbaszaidi) December 29, 2019
On January 1, Abbas responded to Nishchalanand on Twitter and said, “Dear Sanyasi Sherlock Holmes, I clicked this pic. You are misguiding people. This bandage was tied in solidarity with Minhajuddin, a Jamia student who lost an eye in a police crackdown on Dec 15. Here are some more pic..See thread below!”
The five-part thread was posted on December 29 by Abbas. In the opening thread, Abbas tweeted, “Eye bandaged : Jamia students bandage one eye in solidarity with fellow student Minhajuddin who lost an eye in @DelhiPolice crackdown on December 15. Innovative way of protest.” The viral image was a part of the fifth tweet in the thread.
On December 29, several media outlets including NDTV and Zee Media, addressed the rally as the ‘one eye bandaged’ protest. The symbolic protest was held to express solidarity with a Jamia Millia Islamia student who lost his eye in an alleged police crackdown on December 15.
Alt News spoke with Abbas who was covering the protests. He said, “Not just the students, even the civilians joined the unique protest. Several individuals could be seen distributing bandages.” He uploaded a four-minute Facebook Live as well.
With an Eye bandaged : Jamia students put bandages on one eye in solidarity with Jamia student Minhajuddin who lost an eye in the police crackdown in #JamiaMilliaIslamia
Posted by Zafar Abbas on Sunday, 29 December 2019
On December 29, Surabhi Kanga, web editor at Caravan tweeted a few photos from the protest. In one of the protests, we can clearly see an image where a person is tieing a bandage.
Therefore, the claim on social media that protestors are ‘faking’ injuries because their bandages are wrapped over their hijab is untrue. The viral image was posted by New-Delhi based journalist Zafar Abbas from the ‘one eye bandaged’ protest on December 29. This was a symbolic agitation against alleged police brutality which caused a Jamia student to lose an eye.
[Update: Madhu Kishwar’s tweet has been added to this report.]
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th January 2020 / 9:52 pm / Last updated: 9th January 2020
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/image-of-symbolic-one-eye-bandaged-protest-shared-as-caa-protesters-faking-injury/",
"author": "Archit & Kinjal"
}
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1,546 |
Image of upscale PG accommodation shared as JNU hostel room - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
21st November 2019 / 8:05 pm / Last updated: 22nd November 2019
An image of a room with twin single beds in circulating on social media with the claim that it’s of a hostel room in Jawaharlal University, Delhi. From a Facebook page ‘I Support PM’ the post has received 12,000 shares and over 6,000 likes. The text on the infographic reads, “आज 10Rs.में चाय समोसा नहीं मिलता और JNU के इन मुफ्तखोटों को दिल्ली जैसे शहर में 10Rs.में कमरा मिला हुआ है वो भी हमारे टेक्स के पैसों से !!! (Today, you don’t even get a samosa for Rs 10 and these freeloaders from JNU get a room for Rs 10 in a city like Delhi with our taxes.)“
The post was created by a page named ‘Bharat Vikas’ on November 14.
आज 10Rs.में चाय समोसा नही मिलता और…
Posted by Bharat Vikas – भारत विकास on Thursday, 14 November 2019
A reverse image search on Yandex led us to a website which carried an image of the same room taken from a different angle and described as, “Students Inn Housing.”
A keyword search led us to the Facebook page of ‘Students Inn Housing’ which is a paying guest (PG) accommodation in Delhi/ NCR. The same image was shared on May 16, 2018.
It’s the personal touch that will help you feel at home immediately
*
#students #studentsinn #delhiuniversity #delhigram #delhi #hospitality #hostel #accomodation #pg
Posted by Students Inn on Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Alt News contacted students from JNU who shared photographs of the college hostel rooms. As evident, they aren’t similar to the viral photograph.
In the midst of the ongoing protest against hostel fee like in JNU, which will nearly double the annual fee for students living in campus, a photograph of a PG accommodation was shared on social media as a hostel room in the university.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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21st November 2019 / 8:05 pm / Last updated: 22nd November 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/image-of-upscale-pg-accommodation-shared-as-jnu-hostel-room/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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1,547 |
Image photoshopped to portray Abu Dhabi Crown Prince in saffron robes - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
31st August 2019 / 7:37 pm / Last updated: 7th September 2021
“बंदा खुद टोपी नही पहनता, लेकिन शेखों को भगवा पहनाकर आता है…मोदी जी आपके मन मे क्या है जय श्री राम (Man himself does not wear a cap but makes Sheikhs wear saffron. Modi ji, what’s in your heart? Jai Shri Ram.)” – is the caption used to share an image of PM Modi with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed where the latter is seen wearing saffron-coloured thawb and keffiyeh with Hindu inscriptions.
बंदा खुद टोपी नही पहनता,
लेकिन 👉शेखों को भगवा 🔥पहनाकर आता है👌👌
😹😍 #photoshop😂🤣 pic.twitter.com/AO9fPcITVG
— दीपिका रस्तोगी🇮🇳 (@Real_Deepika_) September 4, 2021
बंदा खुद टोपी नही पहनता लेकिन,
शेखों को भगवा पहनाकर आता है। pic.twitter.com/9bEQyN6bFb
— अजित डोभाल फैन (@125Ajitji) September 5, 2021
The image has also been shared on Facebook. (मोदी 2.0 ( मोदी समर्थक जुड़े), ‼️अखंड भारत‼️)
The same image was shared in 2019 by Atul Kushwaha, who identified as BJP Kisan Morcha member. He has now changed both his to ‘Department of Silk’.
One glance at the image is sufficient to debunk that it is poorly photoshopped. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Abu Dhabi in 2019 where he met with the Crown Prince to discuss ways to boost trade and cultural ties between the two countries. The PM was also conferred ‘Order of Zayed’, the UAE’s highest civilian award, on his visit. The photograph in question was taken during his trip and was tweeted by Mohammed Bin Zayed himself on August 25, 2019.
मैत्री और सहयोग को बढ़ावा देने में भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री की भूमिका के लिए मोहम्मद बिन ज़ायद ने भारतीय प्रधानमंत्री को ज़ायद पदक से सम्मानित किया। इस अवसर पर उनकी उपस्थिति में महात्मा गांधी की 150 वीं जयंती के स्मरण में एक विशेष स्मारक टिकट का विमोचन किया गया। pic.twitter.com/zxtkVf6eDe
— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) August 24, 2019
In the original image, his clothes are white. PMO India had also tweeted images of the visit.
The prestigious ‘Order of Zayed’ is conferred on PM @narendramodi at a ceremony in Abu Dhabi. pic.twitter.com/YkrMmM5hsM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) August 24, 2019
A poorly photoshopped image was attempted to be passed off on social media as Abu Dhabi Crown Prince adorning saffron robes.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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31st August 2019 / 7:37 pm / Last updated: 7th September 2021
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/image-photoshopped-to-portray-abu-dhabi-crown-prince-in-saffron-robes/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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1,548 |
Images from 2019 shared as coffins of Indian army soldiers who died in Galwan - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
22nd June 2020 / 6:23 pm
Photographs of coffins wrapped in the Indian national flag have been shared with the claim that these belong to the Indian soldiers who died in the recent clashes with China in Ladakh. Journalist Arshad Sharif of Pakistani media outlet ARY News tweeted the images and wrote, “At least 50 #Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with #Chinese forces in #Galwan valley. #Modi acknowledged only 20 killed, disgracing the sacrifice of other soldiers who sacrificed life for #India. The gory pics of all 50 available…” His tweet drew over 1,200 retweets.
Several accounts sharing propaganda against India have shared both images. The tweet below was posted by a user whose bio reads, “nepal nation are stand with pakistan to destroy india.”
Atleast 50 #Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with #Chinese forces in #Galwan valley. #Modi acknowledged only 20 killed, disgracing the sacrifice of other soldiers who sacrificed life for #India.
The gory pics of all 50 available.
How many coffins ⚰️ u can count?#Galwan pic.twitter.com/L2X128uSQQ
— irmak idoya🇳🇵 (@irmaknepal2) June 21, 2020
The second photograph was also featured in a TV9 Bharatvarsh report on the death of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan Valley.
Image 1
A reverse-image search of the first photograph took us to an article published by Financial Express in February 2019 after the Pulwama attack where 44 CRFP soldiers were killed by a suicide-bomber. The photograph has been described as, “Cutting across the political divide, leaders were united in paying homage to CRPF martyrs at Palam technical airport in New Delhi,” and has been credited to PTI.
Image 2
The second image was also traced back to last year after the Pulwama attack took place on February 14, 2019. Below is a Facebook post from February 17, 2019. While we were unable to locate the picture on media reports, it certainly does not represent the aftermath of the skirmish in Galwan Valley.
Therefore, old images were shared to falsely claim that they depict coffins of the Indian army soldiers who died in Galwan Valley.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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22nd June 2020 / 6:23 pm
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"license": "Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-from-2019-shared-as-coffins-of-indian-army-soldiers-who-died-in-galwan/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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1,549 |
Images from Karnataka, WB shared as Babri masjid photos from British Library archive - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
27th November 2019 / 6:52 pm
A set of photographs has been posted on social media with the narrative that these represent the now demolished Babri masjid of Ayodhya, taken from the archive of the British Library.
ब्रिटिश म्यूजियम ने बाबरी मस्जिद की कुछ तस्वीरें शाया की #माशा #अल्लाह@asadowaisi @AIMPLB_Official pic.twitter.com/wbm08okhkD
— MOHD ASHRAF KHAN (@mohd_ashraf_111) November 26, 2019
As can be seen in the above tweet, there are four images which have been shared as the Babri masjid. This tweet was retweeted by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
The images have also been posted on Facebook, with the same narrative.
So, do these pictures indeed represent the Babri masjid? Do they form part of the archives of the British Library?
None of the four photographs circulated on social media represent the Babri masjid. Let us take a look at each.
A reverse-image search of the above picture reveals that the monument in question is the Motijheel masjid, in Murshidabad district of West Bengal. Posted below is an identical image of Motijheel masjid, posted on Wikipedia.
The above image represents the Jama masjid at the Gulbarga fort in Karnataka. The mosque was built in 1367 CE. The image posted below shows the mosque from a different angle.
On reverse-searching the above image, Alt News found it is from Turkey. The photograph in question represents the Green mosque, known in Turkish as the Yeşil Camii. It is situated in Bursa, Turkey.
The above image is not of the Babri masjid, as claimed. Alt News reverse-searched the image and found a like image, posted on the automobile website, Team BHP. It represents a portion of the Ibrahim Rauza, the mausoleum complex located in Bijapur, Karnataka and commissioned by Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1579-1627 CE).
It may thus be noted none of the images shared by social media users represents the Babri masjid of Ayodhya. A similar claim was circulated earlier this month, with photographs from Turkey and Afghanistan passed off as the Babri masjid.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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Recently, several prominent BJP leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had intervened to stop…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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27th November 2019 / 6:52 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-from-karnataka-wb-shared-as-babri-masjid-photos-from-british-library-archive/",
"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
}
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1,550 |
Images from Malayalam series viral as RSS man beaten at Muslim wedding in Kerala - Alt News
Archit
10th September 2020 / 3:55 pm / Last updated: 10th September 2020
Several Twitter and Facebook users have juxtaposed two images of a man, one of which shows him badly wounded. The text on the image reads, “This is mr. Chandraboss (RSS karyavahak). He was beaten to a pulp just because he attended a Muslim marriage. This happened in God’s own country Kerala.”
Twitter user @Im_shithun posted the viral image and wrote, “0% humanity, 100% literacy, Shame on Kerala! #JusticeForChandraboss“. The user tagged OpIndia and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This tweet gained over 100 retweets. (archived linked)
Several Facebook users have made similar posts.
Alt News glanced at replies to the tweet by @Im_shithun and found a tweet by @JoySojo which stated that the pictures are from a Malayalam web series called ‘Karikku’.
hello bro….it's a scene from web series called 'Karikku'…. and he is not a rss man…okay if u want clariffication watch on youtube Karikk second last episode
— sojo joy (@JoySojo) September 6, 2020
Using this as a clue we performed a keyword search on Facebook and found the official page of Karikku. The Hindu reported, “Karikku with 2.6 million (26 lakh) subscribers leads the list of top Malayalam content creators on YouTube.”
The page uploaded a photo that shows actors of the series ‘Smile Please!’. In the photo, we can see the man in a viral image.
While we couldn’t find the exact frames seen in the viral images, we found the man wearing identical clothes as in the video.
The actor’s name is Arjun Ratan. On August 19, Ratan had posted the viral images on his Instagram.
This was earlier fact-checked by The Quint.
Thus the social media claim that the viral image shows an RSS worker who was beaten up for attending a Muslim wedding is false. The images were posted by actor Arjun Ratan who played a role in a Malayalam YouTube web-series.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th September 2020 / 3:55 pm / Last updated: 10th September 2020
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{
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-from-malayalam-web-series-viral-as-rss-man-beaten-for-attending-muslim-wedding/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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1,551 |
Amar Ujala publishes old photos from West Bengal as pothole-ridden road in Lucknow - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
2nd September 2020 / 12:23 am
On August 29, Lucknow edition of Amar Ujala, a leading Hindi daily, published four images supposedly showing poor condition of roads in the city. In these images, a person wearing a helmet can be seen posing on pothole-ridden roads. Amar Ujala stated that these images were sent to them by a concerned citizen.
UP Congress Committee’s social media vice-chairperson Pankhuri Pathak posted two similar-looking images and took a jibe at the ruling BJP government in the state. Pathak had also shared the images with the same claim on her Facebook page.
गढही में भी नियम क ख्याल बा,
अच्छे दिन वालन क भयल बुरा हाल बा। #गड्ढा_मुक्त_उत्तरप्रदेश pic.twitter.com/rx2GnOJv3v
— Pankhuri Pathak पंखुड़ी पाठक پنکھڑی (@pankhuripathak) August 28, 2020
In response to her tweet, some people tweeted a screenshot of an Instagram post where it was claimed that the images were from Bilaspur, a city in Congress-ruled Chattisgarh.
This is from Bilaspur,Chhatishgarh and is ruled by Congress. pic.twitter.com/9dAkvHN8ar
— Chinese Raoul. (@Bawol_Gandhi) August 28, 2020
At the same time, some even claimed these images were from Bihar.
गढही में भी नियम क ख्याल बा,
अच्छे दिन वालन क भयल बुरा हाल बा। #गड्ढा_मुक्त_बिहार pic.twitter.com/iw14q39nd8
— Deepak Rai (@Deepakrai07) August 28, 2020
With a reverse image search on Russian search engine Yandex, we found the same images posted on a blog (aanavandi.com) on October 14, 2019. Here, the images were said to be from West Bengal.
In the blog, some more similar images have been posted. One of the images shows a billboard carrying a picture of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee along with Bengali text.
Moreover, the image on the blog seems to be a better quality photograph of the one viral on social media. With a closer look at the images, we were able to spot vehicles that bore a number plate beginning with “WB” suggesting that these are vehicles are registered in West Bengal.
Upon performing a keyword search in Bengali, we found a report by Dhaka 18 which carried these images. According to the report, images of pothole-ridden roads in Malda were shot by a resident of West Bengal’s English Bazaar Sangeet Roy. It also informed that Roy had posted these images on his Facebook account.
We found that Sangeet Roy had posted six images on October 13, 2019.
রথবাড়ি
Posted by সঙ্গীত রায় on Sunday, 13 October 2019
Newschecker had earlier fact-checked these images. They are not from Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh or Bihar but from West Bengal.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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2nd September 2020 / 12:23 am
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-from-west-bengal-where-a-man-sitting-in-pothole-wearing-helmet-shared-as-uttar-pradesh/",
"author": "Priyanka Jha"
}
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Photos of sadhu injured in personal dispute in Vrindavan shared with false Bangladeshi angle - Alt News
Ketan
12th May 2020 / 4:57 pm / Last updated: 13th May 2020
A set of photographs of an injured, bloodied sadhu is viral on social media. Posts and tweets claim that the Hindu ascetic was murdered by “Bangladeshi immigrants” in Vrindavan. They also suggest that the incident was communally-motivated as a “Hindu sadhu was killed by Muslims”. One Vikas Gaur, who self-identifies as an RTI activist, was among those who promoted the claim. Gaur has now deleted his tweet however, the same claim was promoted by several others.
Another sadhu killed by Bangladeshi immigrants in Vrindavan.
Brutal assault on Vrindavan priest:#वृन्दावन के वैष्णव हिन्दू पुजारी को #मुसलमानों ने बेरहमी से मारा..
Tamal Krishna Das, an elderly #Vaishnav saint #मेरे_सन्यासियों_को_मारा_क्यों???? pic.twitter.com/F32CdYvT4h
— 🚩ॐ🚩सत्य सनातन 🚩ॐ🚩 (@TatTwamAsi) May 11, 2020
OpIndia editor Ajit Bharti penned an article on the propaganda website and relentless purveyor of misinformation. He questioned, “What kind of people target saints?” and wrote that it is being said that Bangladeshi hands were also behind the attack.
किस तरह के नीच लोग साधु-संतों को निशाना बनाते हैं? कहा जा रहा है कि बांग्लादेशी भी इस हमले में शामिल थे। #vrindavan #sadhulynching #tamalkrishnadas https://t.co/UDQklsAsOc
— Ajeet Bharti (@ajeetbharti) May 11, 2020
A Facebook page ‘खतरनाक राष्ट्रवादी (Dangerous Nationalist)’ wrote that Tamal Krishna Das, an elderly Vaishnav saint, was mercilessly thrashed by Muslims. He also claimed that all the assailants are absconding, two of whom are Bangladeshi, and Mathura police are trying to bury the case. The post made a reference to Palghar lynching case where three sadhus were killed. However, the incident had no communal overtones and the police investigation revealed that locals murdered the men, mistaking them for thieves. The mob that lynched the trio hailed from the same community. Alt News had debunked the communalisation of the Palghar lynching incident here.
Twitter user Arti Agarwal, who claims to be an IIT Roorkee alum, shared the photographs with the same claim.
In a reply to Agarwal’s tweet, Mathura police wrote that Vrindavan police has begun the necessary investigation while the sadhu has been sent for a medical check-up. While this tweet does not give details of the attack, it acts as proof that the sadhu wasn’t killed. Mathura police’s tweet was posted less than two hours after Agarwal’s post. However, it is unfortunate that while the former has drawn over 6,000 retweets, the police’s tweet has attracted 19 retweets so far.
इस प्रकरण में थाना वृन्दावन पुलिस द्वारा वादी का मेडिकल कराकर आवश्यक कार्यवाही की जा रही है।
— MATHURA POLICE (@mathurapolice) May 11, 2020
Further details were found in another tweet by Mathura police in a reply to Sudarshan News journalist Ankit Triwedi. He also posted the tweet with the Bangladeshi angle and claimed that all perpetrators are absconding. However, the first sentence of the police’s reply reads, “The news of Bangladeshi attackers is untrue.” It further states that a personal dispute in Gaudiya math sparked the attack. The tweet carries a video byte of police inspector Sadar who clarifies that the incident has no communal angle. He said that in Gaudiya math in Imlitalia, Vrindavan, the followers of former chairman Tamal Das and incumbent chairman BP Sadhu got into a fight which led to Das’s injuries. The police has identified Sachinanad as the prime accused who has been arrested. Two others who are absconding are Govinda and Jagannath. A security guard Govind Singh’s name has also appeared during the investigation. The officer also said that no FIR has been filed in the case.
बंग्लादेशी हमलावार की खबर असत्य है गौडिय मठ के साधुओं का आपस में विवाद हुआ था । कृपया भ्रामक खबर न फैलायें ।
उक्त प्रकरण में मारपीट करने वाले मुख्य अभियुक्त की गिरफ्तारी व पुलिस द्वारा की जा रही कार्यवाही के सम्बन्ध में क्षेत्राधिकारी सदर द्वारा दी गयी बाइट। pic.twitter.com/bOlzAItOqy
— MATHURA POLICE (@mathurapolice) May 12, 2020
Therefore, the incident has no communal angle and was sparked by a personal dispute. Everyone involved in the attack hailed from the same community and the sadhu, though injured, did not lose this life. However, a matter of concern is that the posts which carry the hate-filled misinformation have drawn thousands of shares however, there is hardly anyone to pay heed to the police’s statement which carries the truth. But the police’s timely response on social media is appreciated and hopefully such clarifications are routinely provided to deter the spread of misinformation.
Ketan is Senior Editor at Alt News Hindi.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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12th May 2020 / 4:57 pm / Last updated: 13th May 2020
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-injured-sant-vrindavan-mathura-bangladeshi-hindu-muslim-angle/",
"author": "Ketan"
}
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Images of 2015 Pak heatwave viral as casualties of the Balakot airstrike by IAF - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
7th March 2019 / 4:00 pm
A set of images doing rounds on social media is being shared with claims that it depicts the impact of Indian Air Force’s airstrike in Pakistan. The photographs show mass graves and shrouded dead bodies. “बालाकोट हमले का सबूत सभी हरामी नेताओं को है ये ताकी तुम सभी ग़द्दार अपने मुह पर चपल मार कर चुप रहे और सेना का माजक न उड़ाऐ |जय हिंद की सेना! (This proof of Balakot attack is for the ha**** ministers so that you traitors hit your faces with slippers and keep your mouths shut instead of making fun of our forces.),” is the commonly used caption accompanying the photographs. Another caption that is being used to share the images is – “यह है सबूत अच्छी तरह से चशमा लगा कर देख लिजियेगा जी। (This is the proof. See properly with spectacles on.)“
An image in the set of photographs shows shrouded dead bodies placed in what looks like a tunnel dug for mass graves.
We found the original photograph on Getty Images, which described the pictures as, “Pakistani Edhi charity volunteers bury the bodies of unclaimed heatwave victims at a graveyard in Karachi on June 26, 2015. Pakistani welfare volunteers on June 26 held a mass funeral for 50 victims of Karachi’s worst heatwave in decades, whose bodies had gone unclaimed.”
Another viral image shows a room where a man is covering several dead bodies covered with white cloth.
Reverse-searching this photograph on Google led us to the original photo on Getty Images. This photograph also depicted the 2015 heatwave in Pakistan which caused hundreds of deaths. The dead bodies in the photograph were the unclaimed ones and the man was putting identification papers on their shrouds.
Two other similar images of shrouded bodies are being shared on social media, claiming that these are the Pakistani casualties of the Balakot airstrike.
These images are also of the 2015 heatwave in Pakistan. While the image on the left was found on TIME magazine, the one on the right was traced back to Getty Images.
The last photograph shows people burying the dead in mass graves.
This image has already been debunked by Alt News. While we were unable to trace its origin, we found that it has existed on the internet since at least 2016.
Google reverse-image search also threw up a 2013 New York Times article carrying a similar image. The photograph was sourced to Associated Press, which described it as, “Pakistani men prepare the graves of Saturday’s bombing victims in Quetta, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 17, 2013.” This photograph seemed to be of the same location as the viral image but taken from a different angle.
Misinformation on social media related to the Balakot airstrike has increased manifold, especially after reports of no casualties in the attack. In the past, we have debunked 2005 Kashmir earthquake images being circulated as the devastation caused by the Indian Air Force’s airstrike on JeM camps.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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7th March 2019 / 4:00 pm
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{
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-2015-pak-heatwave-viral-as-casualties-of-the-balakot-airstrike-by-iaf/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Italian artwork viral as 'dangerous creature' drops from sky in Darbhanga after Cyclone Yaas - Alt News
Kinjal
25th September 2020 / 7:09 pm / Last updated: 2nd June 2021
Facebook page KBC News Katihar posted a video in the form of a news broadcast where the anchor claimed that Cyclone Yaas left a ‘dangerous creature’ behind in Darbhanga, Bihar. “The creature has shocked even NASA. It said that this creature brings the possibility of a grave danger for Earth…It is in a half-dead state due to falling from a great height,” the anchor added. She also draws parallels to a video of an ‘alien’ found in Jharkhand (which was unsurprisingly found to be untrue). The video has over 1.7 million views.
दरभंगा में आसमान से गिरा खौफनाक प्राणी | NASA ने बताया खतरे का संकेत
दरभंगा में आसमान से गिरा खौफनाक प्राणी | NASA ने बताया खतरे का संकेत
👇👇👇👇
केबीसी न्यूज़ की पड़ताल में दरभंगा की खौफनाक प्राणी का सच आया सामने…देखे पूरी रिपोर्ट
https://fb.watch/5RUWfyvxum/
Posted by KBC News Katihar on Monday, 31 May 2021
Alt News has received the video on WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160) and mobile application.
A message warning farmers to say wary of a ‘dangerous animal’ was widely circulating on social media with images of the same ‘creature’ last year. The message said, “It is requested to all farmers to not step out on farms at night. Stay safe, beware, this is an extremely dangerous animal which is now headed to Rajasthan from Gujarat.”
The claim was viral on Facebook and Twitter. Some websites also reported that a strange animal was spotted in India. Viral Track and Middle Era were among such websites.
On October 29, 2018, a News18 report had carried a picture of this ‘animal’ claiming it was seen in the Jagtial district in Telangana. But the report had also speculated that the photograph may or may not be real.
Alt News had received verification requests on its official mobile application last year as well.
After performing a reverse image search, we found these photos in a blog post dated July 13, 2020. According to the blog post, the photos show silicon artwork created by Laira Maganuco, an artist who is able to “stimulate nature, refining her own style that finds a place in the hyperrealism and surrealism world. She is able to improve more and more her sculptural technique that leads to the creation of unique silicone works.”
On October 3, 2018, Maganuco shared videos of her artwork along with the pictures going viral on Facebook. She wrote that the creation is a silicon artwork of a hybrid version of an Armadillo. Pictures of numerous such silicon artwork have also been shared on Maganuco’s Instagram page.
single piece silicone armadillo hybrid.
Posted by Laira Maganuco on Tuesday, 2 October 2018
Her artwork is available on etsy.com which says she is from Italy.
The armadillo picture viral on social media is up for sale on the website for US$ 7933.46. The product description reads, “This piece is carved entirely by hand in acetic silicone paste. Technique developed by me over time. The product is unique and unrepeatable, suitable for enthusiasts and collectors. It contains elements of great detail, to make the piece of art even more realistic.”
Thus pictures of silicon artwork made by an Italian artist are viral with false claims suggesting a dangerous creature fell from the sky in Bihar and farmers should beware of a ‘dangerous animal’ lurking on farms at night.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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25th September 2020 / 7:09 pm / Last updated: 2nd June 2021
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-art-work-are-being-shared-as-dangerous-animal-spotted-in-india/",
"author": "Kinjal"
}
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Images of Bangladeshi child shared as kidnapped girl forced to beg in India - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
18th July 2019 / 5:40 pm / Last updated: 7th December 2019
Two photographs of a child are doing rounds on the Indian social media ecosystem. A tweet by @RealHistoriPix claims that the child was kidnapped and forced into beggary – “This beautiful child is not a beggar, she must be kidnapped and made to beg. Pls share her pic wherever you can so that it will reach to her parents.”
Another Twitter user @hemirdesai claimed that the child was “seen in Mangalore with Tamil beggars” and was found in a Mumbai-bound train. “Her name is Sonal Bipin Patel,” the user alleged.
The beautiful girl was seen in mangalore with Tamil beggars pls forward until it reaches the right parent and she is identified.
Found from a train coming Mumbai. Kindly Identified her.
Her name is Sonal Bipin Patel@CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice @compolmlr pic.twitter.com/kCBOnQyXWx
— Hemir Desai (@hemirdesai) July 17, 2019
The same claim is also circulating with a Tamil text – “அழகிய பெண் குழந்தை மங்கலூரில் தமிழ் பிச்சைக்காரோட வலம் வ௫கிறது இதை பெற்றோர் கவணத்திற்கு சொல்லும் வரை பல௫க்கு பகி௫ங்கள். (The beautiful girl was seen in Mangalore with Tamil beggars pls forward until it reaches the right parent and she is identified. This is for the parent’s attention.)”
The images of the girl are also being forwarded on WhatsApp.
There are several clues in the photographs which led us to the conclusion that they are not from India but Bangladesh.
If one looks closely the currency notes in the girl’s possession feature a portrait of Bangladesh’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
A Google reverse-search of the images took us to several media reports from Bangladesh. A July 13, 2019 report in Ajker Comilla, based on a Facebook post by one Asif Akbar, the girl was kidnapped two years ago from a market in Bagerhat. A person recently clicked her photo in Banani, Dhaka. The uncle of the child recognised his niece and contacted the photographer. However, when the duo went back to the same place in Banani, the child was gone. The Facebook post further claimed that the girl’s father works in Chittagong and does not use a mobile phone. “If anyone finds the child, please inform the police or the child’s uncle,” it appealed. The post ended with two phone numbers, one of which belonged to the uncle and the other one was Iqbal Kabir’s number, the president of Bagarpara Upazila Press Club.
Alt News contacted Kabir and was told that a girl was indeed kidnapped two years ago in Bagerhat. “After this child’s photographs were uploaded, the uncle of the kidnapped child claimed that this girl is his niece,” Kabir informed, adding that they’ve been unable to confirm if the child in the photographs is the same as the one who was kidnapped as they are yet to make contact with her parents. “It’s been about 10 days that we are trying to get in touch with the parents. No one knows of their whereabouts,” he informed.
We found another local report by WAB News24, according to which, a different family has recognised the child in the photographs as their own. Volunteers of the organisation, while searching for the girl, came across a person who claimed to have spotted her at Brahmanbaria railway station. Taking this as a lead, WAB claimed to have located the child’s father, Abul Mia. Speaking to her family members and neighbours, WAB claimed that the girl in the pictures was Abul Mia’s daughter and not the child who was kidnapped.
When Alt News asked Iqbal Kabir about WAB’s findings, we were told that it is possible that the kidnapped child is the daughter of Abul Mia who also begs for alms.
Photographs of a child from Bangladesh, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, are floating on social media as a girl who was taken away from her parents and forced to beg on Indian streets.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th July 2019 / 5:40 pm / Last updated: 7th December 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-bangladeshi-child-shared-as-kidnapped-girl-forced-to-beg-in-india/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Images of charred idol of Hindu deity Kali in West Bengal viral with baseless communal angle - Alt News
Archit
2nd September 2020 / 4:17 pm / Last updated: 2nd September 2020
On September 2, several Facebook and Twitter users shared an image of a charred idol of Hindu deity Kali. As per social media claims, the idol is from a temple in Murshidabad, West Bengal. Several social media users claimed that “jihadists” attacked the temple and destroyed the idol.
Vice president BJP Bengal and MP Arjun Singh shared multiple images that received over 600 retweets. (archived link)
The jihadi nature of Didi’s politics is now hell bent on destroying Hindu religion and culture.
See how one religious group has attacked and destroyed a temple and burned the idol of Maa Kali in Murshidabad area of West Bengal.
Shameful. pic.twitter.com/lTnyiV9ctV
— Arjun Singh (@ArjunsinghWB) September 1, 2020
Twitter account @Befittingfacts tweeted two juxtaposed before and after images of the Kali idol. The tweet read, “Some ‘unknown’ person burnt the idol Kali Maa in Murshidabad”. While the tweet didn’t directly blame the Muslim community, people in the comments did. (archived links)
Some ‘unknown’ person burnt the idol Kali Maa in Murshidabad.
Before After pic.twitter.com/oaJyaizTj6
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) September 1, 2020
Identical claim is floating on Facebook. The post below was made by the page ‘The Ex Secular’ which claimed that “jihadi terrorists imported from Bangladesh” were behind the act.
Maa Kali Temple burnt in Alampur Kali Temple, Nowda, Murshidabad. By Jihadi terrorists imported from Bangladesh.
I wish…
Posted by The Ex Secular on Tuesday, 1 September 2020
Alt News reached out to a district police officer at the Murshidabad police station who said that the incident took place at Kali Maa Nimtala Kalimandir in Alampur village of Murshidabad, West Bengal. “The incident occurred on the night of August 31. The Kali goddess idol got burnt in a fire. There are no signs of forced entry. As per the trust’s statement, a fire broke out. There is no communal angle to the incident.”
The officer also shared a press release by the temple’s executive committee that carries secretary Sukhdev Vajpayee’s statement. “On the night of August 31, the diol caught fire. There was no theft and it could be an accident,” it reads. Vajpayee also informed that Hindus and Muslims in the area live peacefully. He made an appeal to not communal the incident to spark tensions.
Speaking with Alt News, Vajpayee said that they haven’t been able to determine the cause of the fire. “There is no CCTV on the premise and we are thinking of installing one,” he said.
West Bengal police shared a screenshot of BJP leader Arjun Singh’s tweet and wrote, “Legal action is being taken. Please don’t get carried away by misleading, provocative and mischievous posts.”
pic.twitter.com/8ufX7uYC7g
— West Bengal Police (@WBPolice) September 2, 2020
The claim that the Muslim community was behind setting ablaze an idol of Hindu deity Kali in West Bengal’s Murshidabad was found to be baseless.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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2nd September 2020 / 4:17 pm / Last updated: 2nd September 2020
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{
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-charred-idol-of-hindu-deity-kali-in-west-bengal-viral-with-baseless-communal-angle/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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Images of detention centres in the US shared as Assam - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
18th December 2019 / 5:06 pm
In the view of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, a set of images are being circulated with the claim that they represent detention centres in Assam for illegal immigrants. “इस तरह के हालात मे रहना आप को मंजूर हे तो फिर आप का चुप रहना लाज़्मी हे..असम के डीटेंशन सेंटर की एक तस्वीर (If you are ready to live in these conditions then your silence is justified. Image of detention centre in Assam.)” This is the message shared with the photographs.
इस तरह के हालात मे रहना आप को मंजूर हे तो फिर आप का चुप रहना लाज़्मी हे..
असम के डीटेंशन सेंटर की एक तस्वीर..!#Jamia #CABProtests #StandWithJamia #CAB_नहीं_चलेगा pic.twitter.com/eyiJf9nh9N
— Salman Shaikh سلمان شیخِ (@SalmanS22496764) December 15, 2019
The claim has also been circulated on Facebook.
इस तरह के हालात मे रहना आप को मंजूर हे तो फिर आप का चुप रहना लाज़्मी हे।🤐🤐
असम के डीटेंशन सेंटर की एक तस्वीर,,,
Posted by Aslam Khan Guj on Sunday, 15 December 2019
In fact several users have shared it on the website.
A simple reverse-search of the image reveals that it shows a border patrol facility in the United States. According to Getty Images, “MCALLEN, TX – JUNE 10: In this handout photo provided by the Office of Inspector General, overcrowding of families is observed by OIG at U.S. Border Patrol McAllen Station on June 10, 2019 in McAllen, Texas.”
The second image is also of a detention centre in the US. Getty Images describes it as, “WESLACO, TX – JUNE 11: In this handout photo provided by the Office of Inspector General, overcrowding of families is observed by OIG at U.S. Border Patrol Weslaco Station on June 11, 2019, in Weslaco, Texas.”
The last image has been fact-checked by Alt News in an earlier report. It shows the conditions of the La Romana prison in the Dominican Republic.
Thus images of foreign border patrol facilities and prisons are being circulated as detention centres in Assam.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th December 2019 / 5:06 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-detention-centres-in-the-us-shared-as-assam/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Images of aftermath of earthquake in Croatia shared as coronavirus patients in Italy - Alt News
Jignesh Patel & Mohammed Zubair
26th March 2020 / 10:25 pm / Last updated: 27th March 2020
On March 24, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown in India for the next three weeks, not extending to essential supplies. This is in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
Don’t believe in rumours and superstitions; don’t take any medicines without consulting doctors: PM
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 24, 2020
On March 25, India TV editor-in-chief and chairman Rajat Sharma tweeted images of hospital beds and patients in the open and claimed that Italy has run out of space in hospitals for COVID-19 patients. “Learn from Italy. No more spaces are available in hospitals. Please do not step out of your homes for next 21 days. #CoronavirusLockdown,” he wrote. The tweet had amassed 6,200 retweets before it was deleted. However, a cached and an archived version are accessible.
Alt News has received several requests on its official WhatsApp number to fact-check the images circulating with the same claim.
Several other users on Twitter and Facebook also shared the images.
With a reverse image search on Google, Alt News found that the photographs are from Croatia, NOT Italy as claimed Rajat Sharma. Twitter user Angjelina posted the same set of images on March 22 with a message informing about an earthquake of 5.4 magnitudes in Croatia’s capital Zagreb. At least three of the four images tweeted by Rajat Sharam as Italy were uploaded by Angjelina showing the devastation of a medical facility in Croatia due to tremors. Croatia and neighbouring countries were indeed rocked by a powerful earthquake on March 22.
In the course of this article, we will try to trace each of the images to the earliest source possible and in some cases, independently verify them. The Croatian capital of Zagreb was worst hit by the earthquake in 140 years. The footage posted below shows evacuation on the day of the tremors (i.e March 22) at the Zagreb’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. It may be noted that the photos of mothers being evacuated from the hospital also appeared on March 22.
Evacuation of NICU from Department of Ob/Gyn Petrova #Zagreb #ZagrebEarthquake #Croatia pic.twitter.com/L5cLtt32AM
— Marina Ivanisevic (@MarinaIvanisev3) March 22, 2020
Image 1
This image shows mothers with newborn babies evacuated from a maternity ward in Zagreb. It was also published by Australia’s ABC News in an article reporting on the Croatian earthquake.
Petrova bolnica rodilište pic.twitter.com/GALjpbCQHF
— kmario (@kmario) March 22, 2020
To independently verify the location, we matched the structures seen in this image with those available on Google Earth view. The comparison (posted below) establishes that the photo was shot at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In the comparison posted below, the buildings are enlisted as follow:
Moreover, a video report by Croatian daily 24Sata also features the evacuation scenes at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology department.
Image 2
The location of this image is also outside the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The structures seen here are the same as those visible in the first image. You can watch a seven minutes footage where people are evacuating incubators of newborn babies here.
Image 3
This image of mothers sitting outside the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology was corroborated with the design of the building in the background. In the comparison below, we have compared the image with a photograph of the same department building available on Google. In the comparison below, we have listed the structures are as follow:
Image 4
The image of gurneys shifted out in the open was tweeted by Mirnes Kovac, a Bosnia-based journalist, on March 22, 2020. He wrote, “Heartbreaking photos of mothers with their newborns :baby: waiting outside in the cold during the #earthquake this morning in #Zagreb #Croatia.”
We also found a collage which included this image shared by a Twitter user. As evident, the image viral on social media has been cropped. With a double reverse image search, Alt News found that the image was published in an article by 24Sata. The article said, “Among those most severely affected are KBC Rebro as well as Petrova Hospital. Patients, like staff, are on the streets”. We also found a screenshot of an Instagram post that identified the location of the image as KBC Rebro, Zagreb.
Image 5
The fifth image of gurneys placed outside a building is also from a hospital in Zagreb. Journalist Ian Fraser posted this image while tweeting an article by Virsak.info. He said that the earthquake will put even more pressure on their hospitals.
Zagreb was hit by 5.3-magnitude earthquake while in coronavirus lockdown two days ago, putting even more pressure on Croatia’s hospitals https://t.co/UFNf4SY9uA pic.twitter.com/tYEaqPHAcu
— Ian Fraser (@Ian_Fraser) March 24, 2020
According to the COVID-19 real-time dashboard by John Hopkins University, the total number of positive coronavirus cases in Croatia has touched 481 so far.
In conclusion, all the four images which were tweeted by India’s TV editor-in-chief were from Zagreb, Croatia and depicted the aftermath of the March 22 earthquake. Furthermore, the other image was also found to be from Croatia. None of the images depicts the poor state of coronavirus patients in Italy. While Sharma took down his tweet, the images are circulating with false claims on WhatsApp.
Note: With the number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in India exceeding 700 and hundreds of districts in the country in complete lockdown, there is a growing sense of fear among citizens at large. Globally, more than 4 lakh confirmed cases and close to 15,000 deaths have been reported. This has caused people to fall for a variety of misinformation floating online – misleading images and videos rousing fear or medical misinformation promoting pseudoscience and invalid treatments. While your intentions may be pure, misinformation, spread especially during a global pandemic, can take lives. We request our readers to practice caution and not forward unverified messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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26th March 2020 / 10:25 pm / Last updated: 27th March 2020
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-earthquake-aftermath-in-croatia-shared-as-coronavirus-patients-in-italy/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel & Mohammed Zubair"
}
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Images of earthquake, unrelated terror attacks shared as impact of IAF airstrike in Pakistan - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
27th February 2019 / 6:34 pm
A bunch of images doing rounds on social media is being circulated with the claims that it depicts the devastation caused by the Indian Air Force in Pakistani territory. The caption used to share the viral images is – “पुलवामा की तो तस्वीर बहुत देखी जरा आज पाकिस्तान का भी हाल देखो!!!! (Seen enough photograph of Pulwama, now see the condition of Pakistan).”
This photograph has been shared by many, including the Facebook group I Support Amit Shah. It depicts the October 2005 Kashmir earthquake. The photograph was taken in the Pakistani town of Balakot. According to a BBC report, “The earthquake had affected the northern regions of Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. An estimated 75,000 people were killed, mostly in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.”
This image is also of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. We found the original photograph in Getty Images.
The photograph above is of the 2005 earthquake as well. Getty Images has the original photo in its stockpile.
This photograph, same as the others, is widely circulated on WhatsApp. However, it does not depict the recent turmoil between India and Pakistan. The photograph was shot on November 3, 2014, after a Pakistani Taliban group bombed the Indo-Pak border. We found the original image on an Al Jazeera report.
Both these images are of the same suicide bomb attack as image 4. We found the original photographs on CNN and Dawn.
While Alt News was unable to determine the exact origin of this photograph, we were able to trace it as far back as 2015. A blog – worthefforts.blogpost.com – posted it as the 2015 Punjab-Gurdaspur terrorist attack. Since the image is old, it cannot be representative of anything that is happening in the present altercation between India and Pakistan.
We found the original photograph on a July 8, 2015, Tribune article, which described the incident as, “Tribespeople from Kurram Agency observed Youm-e-Shuhada (Day of martyrs) by paying tribute to those who had lost their lives due to militancy across the province since 2005.” The tribute was observed in Parachinar, the capital city of Pakistan’s Kurram District.
We found that this image dates back to December 19, 2014. It was uploaded by Getty Images and described as dead bodies of alleged Taliban militants who were killed following a military operation in Pakistan’s Hangu.
While we were unable to locate the exact origin of the photograph on the bottom, we were able to trace it as far back as 2016. The image was on a blog myopenionsblog.wordpress.com. Since it is old, it’s clear that it cannot depict the present turmoil.
The image on the top was found on Outlook, which described it as, “Army personnel poses with the bodies of three Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, killed during an encounter at Wandarbal village in Handwara.”
Alt News located all the above images with a simple Google reverse image search. With a surge in misinformation after the Pulwama attack and the turmoil that followed, it is essential that social media users practice self-verification and forward photographs/ videos/ messages only if found authentic.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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27th February 2019 / 6:34 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-earthquake-unrelated-terror-attacks-shared-as-impact-of-iaf-airstrike-in-pakistan/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Images of Gwalior fort shared as Jain temple discovered upon demolition of mosque in Karnataka - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
26th October 2019 / 6:09 pm / Last updated: 4th November 2019
Images of ancient structures and sculptures have been circulated on social media with the claim that a Jain temple was excavated beneath a mosque in Raichur, Karnataka after a road renovation project. “कर्नाटक रायचूर मे रोड सौंदर्यीकरणकरने के लिये मस्जिद गिराई उस मस्जिद के नीचे निकला जैन मंदिर,” reads the message. From a Facebook page ‘3j-jai jinendra ji’, the post had attracted nearly 3,000 shares but was later taken down.
कर्नाटक रायचूर मे रोड सौंदर्यीकरणकरने के लिये मस्जिद गिराई उस मस्जिद के नीचे निकला
अद्भुत जैन मंदिर 👇👇🏻🤔
Posted by Irresponsible Indians on Sunday, 20 October 2019
The same claim has also been propagated on Twitter.
कर्नाटक रायचूर मे रोड सौंदर्यीकरणकरने के लिये मस्जिद गिराई उस मस्जिद के नीचे निकला
जैन मंदिर 👇👇🏻🤔 pic.twitter.com/tqdoxSG85s
— Swapnil Mishra🔥 (@SwapnilPanditt) October 22, 2019
It is being forwarded on WhatsApp as well.
In fact, it has been doing the rounds on social media since May.
A simple Google reverse image search reveals that the photographs shared on social media are of Gwalior fort in Madhya Pradesh. The fort is built on a solitary rocky hill called Gopachal which has been carved to build Jain statues, images of which are available on the internet.
Photographs of the stepwell in the fort are also available on Getty Images.
Several other similar images of areas inside the fort were found online.
Photographs of different structures and statues inside the Gwalior fort were shared on social media as a Jain temple excavated beneath a mosque in Karnataka. A similar claim was shared in November 2018 when a digital artwork was portrayed as temple discovered after the demolition of a mosque in Raichur, Karnataka.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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26th October 2019 / 6:09 pm / Last updated: 4th November 2019
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Images of Hindus attacked in Pakistan falsely linked with communal clashes in West Bengal's Telinipara - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
15th May 2020 / 4:21 pm / Last updated: 15th May 2020
A total of 129 people have been arrested so far over their alleged involvement in clashes that erupted between two communities in West Bengal’s Telinipara after members of one community allegedly taunted the other as “corona”.
On May 13, Twitter user Anand Kumar posted a set of three images with the caption, “पश्चिम बंगाल के हुगली जिले के तेलीपारा में दलित हिन्दुओं के घरों को जलाया जा रहा है। (Houses of Dalit Hindus are being burnt in Telipara in Hooghly district of West Bengal -translated)”. The images show a bleeding man and woman and burning homes.
A few more Facebook users posted the images with the same claim.
Image of the injured man and woman
Alt News found that the images are unrelated to the Telinipara clashes. With the help of Google reverse image search, we found that the first two images of a bleeding man and woman were tweeted by Twitter handle Voice of Pakistan Minority on May 11. “Gulab and his wife were attacked by neighbourhood goons in Rahimyar khan, Punjab,” said the tweet. It also alleged that Gulab’s wife was sexually assaulted in public.
Once again attack on #Hindu community, Gulab and his wife were attacked by neighborhood goons in Rahimyar khan, Punjab.
His wife was sexually assaulted in front of Public.
Shame on you people who are torturing minorities in #Pakistan. @KashifMD @bilalfqi @NatashaFatah @AWGoraya pic.twitter.com/4m2wfeQJqB
— Voice of Pakistan Minority (@voice_minority) May 11, 2020
On May 12, Dubai-based Gulf News reported, “Blood running down Gulab’s face and his wife equally injured and her clothes torn, screamed and begged for help after being attacked in Pakistan allegedly because they come from a Hindu background.”
Moreover, we found a tweet by Pakistan’s Punjab police which said that the couple was injured in a clash over a land dispute between them and a Muslim family. The medical reports of the injured are awaited after which further legal action will be taken, according to the tweet.
یہ بنیادی طور پر زمین کی ملکیت کا تنازع ہے جس کے ہندو اور مسلم دونوں خاندان دعویدار ہیں جس پر فریقین باہم دست و گریبان ہوئے دونوں طرف سے زخمی ہونے والے افراد کی میڈیکل رپورٹ پر کاروائی جاری ہے جس کے بعد مزید قانونی کاروائی کی جائے گی.
— Punjab Police Official (@OfficialDPRPP) May 11, 2020
Image of the burning house
The image of the burning house was posted by Facebook page Pakistani Hindu Refugee on May 11. It claimed that around 21 Hindu homes were burnt in Tharparkar district in Pakistan’s Sindh region. “The source says that some people, including children, are burnt and in critical condition. This is the condition of Pakistani Hindu in Pakistan.” reads the post.
Around 21 houses of Hindus are burnt in Tadados, Tharparkar, Sindh, Pakistan.
The source says that some people,…
Posted by Pakistani Hindu Refugee on Monday, 11 May 2020
While Alt News couldn’t independently verify the images of the burning houses, the photographs of the injured couple are from Pakistan. Therefore, unrelated images of an alleged attack on Hindu minorities in Pakistan were passed off as visuals of clashes between two communities in Telinipara, West Bengal.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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15th May 2020 / 4:21 pm / Last updated: 15th May 2020
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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Images of Hollywood actresses used to target Sonia Gandhi with sexist comments - Alt News
Archit
9th December 2020 / 8:28 pm
On December 9, the president of the Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi celebrated her 74th birthday. Several politicians extended best wishes to her and prayed for her health on Twitter. At the same time, an all too familiar section on the platform, juxtaposed images of Gandhi and Hollywood stars to trend the hashtags #अंतरराष्ट्रीय_बार_डांसर_दिवस (International Bar Dancer Day) and #BarDancer.
Twitter user @Brand_vrai (archived link) shared a collage while using #BarDancerDay multiple times. This tweet gained over 900 retweets.
Twitter users @6OWwcX17fWGrqeD, @avinash0785 and @doctorrichabjp posted a photo montage. On the left is a recent image of Gandhi, while on the right are three black and white images of women. As per the claim, the black-white images depict Gandhi in 1970. Twitter user @doctorrichabjp wrote, “Happy Birthday to the lady who went from wearing skimpy clothes to the most expensive ones.”
(Translated from: सबसे छोटे कपड़ो से सबसे महँगे कपड़े वाली देवी को जन्मदिवस की शुभकामनाएं)
This is not the first time that Gandhi has been targetted with images of Hollywood actresses. In March 2019, Alt News reported that a photograph of Marilyn Monroe was morphed with Sonia Gandhi’s face, calling her a “bar dancer”.
Image posted by Twitter user @Brand_vrai
Alt News has debunked this misinformation every year since 2018. Photographs of Hollywood actresses are used to question Sonia Gandhi’s ‘morality’. The viral claims not only target Gandhi but the actresses too whose jobs are looked down upon and used for cheap political propaganda.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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9th December 2020 / 8:28 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-hollywood-actresses-used-to-target-sonia-gandhi-with-sexist-comments/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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Images of injured Pashto actress Neelam Gul circulated as Indian army's brutality on Kashmiri women - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
7th December 2018 / 10:07 pm / Last updated: 18th March 2019
“Kashmiri women She is from Shopian South kashmir. Beaten during CASO by Indian occupation Army and SOG.” read a caption affixed with a set of images. A Twitter handle, @MrsIshaNaim tweeted the images of a woman with bruises, claiming that she was beaten up during a cordon and search operation (CASO) carried out by the Indian army in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Several other individual users have shared the same images with the identical narrative. @IrshadShabnum, a Twitter handle tweeted the images with a message, “They have beaten her ruthlessly”.
One Ishrat Kashmiri posted the images on a Facebook group, Kashmir Burning Today, saying, “My mom injure by Indian Army in Srinagar Kashmir. Koi hay jo hamari Help karay. India please leave Kashmiri for life”. It has been shared more than 1400 times.
A Twitter user, Sabah Kashmiri claimed that the woman in the image is Neelam Gul, a Pashto actress and singer who hails from the Mardan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.
So this fake account is portraying #Pashto actress #Neelam Gul as a Kashmiri woman tortured by security forces.
We must be cautious before we start following such fake accounts, there are thousands of them. https://t.co/RAQDqVKE3a
— Sabah Kashmiri (@SabahKashmiri) December 6, 2018
Based on the information, Alt News did a Google search with the keywords, “Neelam Gul” and found a YouTube video. The video titled, “Pashto Actress Neelam Gul Kicked By Her Husband | Da Neelam Gul Faryad” was posted on August 2, 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yEu1hcuamQ
A Facebook page Neelam Gul had uploaded an extended version of the same video on August 2, 2018. An article published by a Pakistani daily, The News International on October 29, 2018 stated, “In August this year, a video of a bruised Neelam Gul, dancer and singer from Mardan district, emerged on social media where she cried out for help from the police against her abusive husband.”
In the past as well, videos and images of Kashmir have been shared with a false narrative. Recently, a video of an accidental fire in Uri district, Jammu and Kashmir was passed off as Indian army burning houses of Kashmiris.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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7th December 2018 / 10:07 pm / Last updated: 18th March 2019
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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Images of leather goods covered in mould in Malaysian Mall viral as Shoppers Stop, India - Alt News
Archit
14th May 2020 / 3:42 pm
A WhatsApp text has gone viral along with seven images of disfigured leather products like wallets, bags shoes and belts. The viral text claims that the pictures are from Shoppers Stop. The text warns readers that leather products developed mould because the mall airconditioning was shut during the lockdown and advises against visiting malls for at least four months after the lockdown is lifted. “Imagine when malls open the fungus in the ducts will fly free in closed atmosphere of malls….. entering our respiratory system….. leading to major infection,” it says.
Alt News has received several requests to fact-check this on WhatsApp (+917600011160) and on our official Android application.
On performing a reverse image search on one of the seven images, Alt News found a YouTube video and an article published by China Global Television Network (CTNG).
The video by CTNG included all seven images in the viral text. As per the article published on May 12, the images are from Malaysia’s Metrojaya Center. The mall has been shut since March 18 due to lockdown restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19. As per the report, leather goods at the mall were covered in mould due to humidity and lack of air conditioning.
The incident was also covered by Daily Mail which further informed that cinema hall seats and carpeting were also covered in mould after two months of shutting down.
Coronavirus: Mould found growing on leather products in Malaysia as businesses reopen https://t.co/Omb8UZRH68
— The Straits Times (@STcom) May 12, 2020
The images indeed show leather products spoilt because of mould formation during the lockdown. However, they are it not from Shoppers Stop in India but Malaysia’s Metrojaya Center.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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14th May 2020 / 3:42 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-leather-goods-covered-in-mould-in-malaysian-mall-viral-as-shoppers-stop-india/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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Death of health worker in MP falsely communalised as attack by Muslims in UP - Alt News
Kinjal
9th April 2020 / 10:44 pm / Last updated: 9th April 2020
An image of an injured woman is being shared on social media with the claim that she is a doctor who died after she was attacked by “Islamic jihadis” in Uttar Pradesh. The woman is lying on a gurney with an intubation tube inside her mouth.
A parody Twitter handle of journalist Arnab Goswami while tweeting the image claimed, “Today, doctor Vandana Tiwari died. Last week, she had gone to conduct coronavirus test in UP where she was attacked by ‘Islamic Jihadis’. She was severely injured in the attack and today she has died.” At the time of writing this article, this tweet has garnered close to 1,100 retweets.
[Translated from: “आज डां वंदना तिवारी कि मृत्यु हो गई वह पिछले हफ्ते ही UP में कोरोना टेस्ट के लिए गई थी पर इस्लामिक जिहादीयों ने उन पर हमला कर गंभीर रूप से घायल कर दिया था आज उनकी मौत हो गई।”]
The image has been circulating widely on Twitter and Facebook with the same claim.
Alt News has also received requests on its official Android application to fact-check the claim.
With a reverse search on Google, Alt News found a news report published by Bhopal Samachar on April 7, 2020. According to the report, Vandana Tiwari, a pharmacist at Shivpuri medical college, was working with a team fighting coronavirus. Tiwari suddenly felt sick while she was on duty on March 31. She was later admitted to the district hospital and on April 1, she was moved to Birla hospital after her condition worsened. Doctors had informed that Tiwari was suffering from brain haemorrhage. She went into a coma after her operation and succumbed to her illness on April 7, 2020.
UP Police has also rubbished the claim about Tiwari’s death having links with any incident in Uttar Pradesh and clarified that the pharmacist died in Madhya Pradesh.
भ्रामक सूचना न फैलाएं !
समाचार स्रोतों (https://t.co/CdbZw7936n …) से विदित है कि वंदना तिवारी जी की घटना का सम्बन्ध मध्य प्रदेश से है , उत्तर प्रदेश में इनसे जुडी ऐसी कोई घटना नहीं हुई है|@agrapolice : सूचनार्थ एवं आवश्यक कार्यवाही हेतु|#UPPAgainstFakeNews pic.twitter.com/uFE0TBpy3n
— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) April 9, 2020
Upon performing a keyword search on Twitter, we found a tweet by one Satyabhan Singh. In the tweet, Singh had posted a video of Tiwari and had asked for help from the government. Singh identified himself as a relative of the patient. Alt News reached out to Singh: “I am a family friend of Tiwari. Vandana used to work in Shivpuri hospital. She died due to a brain haemorrhage. No Muslim had attacked her.”
@sardanarohitमाननीय पत्रकार महोदय जी से निवेदन है हमारे परिवार की सदस्य कोरोना कर्मवीर हमारी भाबी जी वंदना तिवारी जी पर ध्यान दे लीजिये इनका इलाज शिवपुरी में ठीक से नही हो पा रहा है कृपया कर इनकी मदद कीजिये आपसे विनम्र निवेदन है… आप से बहुत उम्मीद कर के मेने आपको ट्वीट किया है. pic.twitter.com/IYd9BX9S5K
— Satyabhan Singh Kansana (@Kansanasahabji) April 6, 2020
Therefore, a case of a health worker who died due to brain haemorrhage in MP was communalised on social media with the false claim that she died after Muslims attacked her in UP. This is one of the several attempts where the Muslim community has been targeted with misinformation in the light of a religious gathering organised by the Tablighi Jamaat being identified as a coronavirus hotspot. Earlier this week, a 2015 video of a man massaging his customer’s face with his own saliva was shared with a false communal narrative.
Note: The number of positive cases of the novel coronavirus in India exceeds 6,600 and close to 200 deaths have so far been reported. The government has imposed a complete restriction on movement apart from essential services to tackle the pandemic. Globally, more than 15 lakh confirmed cases and over 90,000 deaths have been reported. There is a sense of panic among citizens, causing them to fall for a variety of online misinformation – misleading images and videos rousing fear or medical misinformation promoting pseudoscience and invalid treatments. While your intentions may be pure, misinformation, spread especially during a pandemic, can take lives. We request our readers to practice caution and not forward unverified messages on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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9th April 2020 / 10:44 pm / Last updated: 9th April 2020
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"author": "Kinjal"
}
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Images of NH signboards vandalised in 2017 viral with farmers' protest spin - Alt News
Archit
10th January 2021 / 1:56 pm / Last updated: 11th January 2021
A collage of eight images of men censoring Hindi and English text from traffic signs is being widely shared on the internet. As per the social media claim, this was done by protestors of the farm bills. The viral text in Hindi states that protestors “don’t want development, they want destruction” and “they don’t want freedom but anarchy” along with #Fake_Kisan_Movement. “After destroying Reliance Jio towers, they don’t want Hindi. Are they farmers?” reads the viral message.
(Viral Hindi text: “#रिलायंस जियो के टॉवर तोड़ने के बाद अब अगला काम #हिंदी_नही_चलेगी क्या ये #किसान है ? ये समाधान नहीं #व्यवधान चाहते हैं ये शांति नहीं #संघर्ष चाहते है ये #विकास नहीं, विनाश चाहते हैं ये स्वतंत्रता नहीं, स्वछंदता चाहते हैं ये सड़क नहीं, स्पीड ब्रेकर चाहते हैं। #फर्जी_किसान_आन्दोलन”)
On January 9, BJP member Jawahar Yadav posted the images on Twitter.
Facebook user Krishna Kant Singh posted the images on Facebook pages ‘I SUPPORT NARENDRA MODI JI‘ and ‘Pushpendra kulshrestha Fan club‘. Similarly, Facebook page Ambedkar and Politics also shared the pictures.
The claim is viral on Facebook and Twitter. It has also been shared with a video where a Sikh man is censoring Hindi and English text on a board that reads “North Zone Culture…”
रिलायंस जियो के टावर तोड़ने के बाद
अगला काम
हिंदी नहीं चलेगी
कौन कहता है ये किसान है???
Posted by Rahul Naagar on Saturday, 9 January 2021
Alt News performed a reverse image search on Google and found that the viral images are not recent. They are from 2017.
Image verification 1: The set of four images in the collage and the image on the bottom left were posted on a blog in October 2017. As per the blog, the images are from Punjab. Two images from this set were also posted on Punjabi Khurki.
Image verification 2: The image on the top right was published by Hindustan Times in October 2017. As per the article, the traffic signs were vandalised by Dal Khalsa, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari), Malwa Youth Federation and other organisations after they alleged that the Punjabi language was “disrespected” by placing in at the bottom on traffic signboards.
Image verification 3: The third image was found in an article by Sikh Siyasat News about the same issue.
Video verification: Alt News performed a reverse image search using InVid, a video verification tool, and found that this video was published by Tamil language news outlet Sathiyam News last year in September.
As per the report, the video shows a man protesting against the imposition of Hindi.
Therefore, the images pertain to protests by Dal Khalsa, Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar), Bharatiya Kisan Union (Krantikari), Malwa Youth Federation and other organisations in 2017 against the alleged “disrespect” shown to Punjabi by bringing it to the bottom on signboards. These have been linked to the ongoing farmers’ protest to not only suggest vandalism but the false claim that the protestors are removing Hindi from signboards.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th January 2021 / 1:56 pm / Last updated: 11th January 2021
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-nh-signboards-vandalised-in-2017-viral-with-farmers-protest-spin/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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Images of Pakistani citizen wearing gold jewellery falsely shared as Tirupati Balaji priest - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
20th September 2019 / 4:38 pm
Photographs of a man covered with gold chains and jewellery are circulating on social media. It is being claimed that the man is a priest at Tirupati Balaji. According to the claim, he has given 125 kg of gold to his three daughters. The set of photographs also includes an image of three women dressed in bridal wear and adorning heavy gold jewellery. “तिरुपति बालाजी मंदिर के पंडित की तीन बेटियों की शादी का फोटो. तीनों के सोने के गहनों का बजन 125Kg है।”, reads the text blurb placed above a collage of photos in the graphic.
Images of this man are circulating on Twitter and Facebook with an identical claim.
A 2018 Facebook post by one Meena Kumari has been shared more than 67,000 times so far.
With the help of a reverse image search on Yandex, Alt News found the Facebook page of a Pakistani resident named Amjad Saeed who according to his Facebook bio hails from Rawalpindi and claims to be CEO at Jewellery Mehal. We found multiple images of Amjad Saeed where he is seeing flaunting his jewellery.
The image posted below was uploaded on his Twitter account on September 23, 2018.
Gold Man / KaKa 222 +923032120222#GoldManKaka222 #GoldMan #GoldManPakistan #KaKa222 #AmjadSaeed #JewelleryMehal pic.twitter.com/omsknye9kO
— GoldMan Kaka 222 (@GoldmanKaka) September 23, 2018
He also runs a Facebook page with 28,000 followers named Gold Man / Kaka 222.
Gold Man Pakistan – Live Session with Fans
from his Official Social Media Pages
Facebook : www.facebook.com/goldmankaka222
You Tube : www.youtube.com/channel/UCFUuzGFYBPEkIndbpjZgjOw
Instagram : www.instagram.com/goldman_kaka
#GoldManKaKa222 #GoldManPakistan #GoldMan #Gold #KaKa222 #TenchBhatta #Rawalpindi #Pakistan #TeamGoldManKaKa222 #Facebook #YouTube #Instagram
Posted by Gold Man / Kaka 222 on Friday, 26 October 2018
Amjad Saeed got featured in a video report by Pakistani news channel Samaa TV.
Moreover, the image of three brides wearing heavy ornaments is circulating on the internet for more than three years now. We found the same photo published by BuzzFeed in an article in April 2016 with a different context. However, we were unable to independently verify the origins of this image.
In conclusion, photographs of a Pakistani man wearing gold jewellery has been shared as that of a priest from Tirupati Balaji who gave his daughters 125 Kg gold.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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20th September 2019 / 4:38 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-pakistani-citizen-wearing-gold-jewellery-falsely-shared-as-tirupati-balaji-priest/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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Images of past protests circulated as recent protests against EVMs after 2019 LS Polls - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
29th May 2019 / 8:16 pm / Last updated: 29th May 2019
“Breaking: In Surat Public Started Protests Against #EVM Without Any Politician Or Political Support & The Bootlicker Media Isn’t Showing This On Any News Channels The Public Is On Streets Seems This Will Be The Start Against Weakening Of Indian Democracy& #EVMHacking #RT Spread”
The above message is circulated on social media with a set of images where people can be seen holding placards in opposition to the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). According to the message, people in Surat are protesting against the use of EVMs without the backing of any political party. It also attempts to create a narrative that media organization won’t cover the event that how independent citizens are raising their concern over the alleged EVM hacking.
Breaking : In Surat Public Started Protests Against #EVM Without Any Politician Or Political Support & The Bootlicker Media Isn’t Showing This On Any News Channels The Public Is On Streets Seems This Will Be The Start Against Weakening Of Indian Democracy& #EVMHacking #RT Spread pic.twitter.com/u1VHXQyeZ4
— 💞Sohail Khan Bobby💞 (@SohailBobby) May 27, 2019
Few more individuals on Facebook have shared these images with the identical narrative.
It was found that the images circulating on social media as of a recent protest against the use of EVMs are old and unrelated to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Upon the reverse image searching the images on Google and Yandex, Alt News was able to establish that the images existed on the internet before the commencement of the Lok Sabha polls.
An article published by Outlook on May 13, 2017, carried the below image. This photo is related to a protest held by a group of Aam Aadmi supporters, outside the Election Commission India office, with a demand that VVPAT-equipped electronic voting machines be used in all the future elections.
This image was uploaded on a blog published on January 20, 2018. By Google searching the name board, seen in the background of protesters, which reads “Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Gruh”, we found that the protest took place in Vadodara.
We also found a corresponding video of the protest uploaded on YouTube on December 20, 2017.
As stated in the caption of the image posted below, it belongs to a demonstration held by a group of protesters, who demanded an inquiry into the EVM machines used during the UP assembly election, in March, 2016.
Old images of protests raising questions against the use of EVM machines were circulated on social media in an attempt to build a narrative that recent protests were held in the country after the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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Recently, several prominent BJP leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had intervened to stop…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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29th May 2019 / 8:16 pm / Last updated: 29th May 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-past-protests-circulated-as-recent-protests-against-evms-after-2019-ls-polls/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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Photos of protests against gold smuggling case in Kerala shared as farmer protests - Alt News
Kinjal
30th September 2020 / 6:54 pm / Last updated: 30th September 2020
Few images of injured protesters are circulating on social media with the claim that they depict farmers who were beaten during the ongoing protests. It is also being claimed that the atrocity did not get any media coverage. On September 24, Facebook user MD Samir posted the images and said, “Farmer protests got violent. These pictures of atrocities on food producers will frighten you. The sold-out and pliant media will not show you this. They are being paid to divert the country’s attention from real issues and focus on Hindu-Muslim. More than the country’s political leaders, the media is ruining this country.” At the time of writing this article, the post garnered over 11,000 shares.
Several Twitter users also posted these images with the same claim.
किसान आंदोलन हुआ उग्र तस्वीरें आपको भयभीत कर देगी अन्नदाताओं पर जो अत्याचार हो रहा है यह बिकाऊ मीडिया आपको नहीं दिखाएगा.@Siraj_As071 @WasiuddinSiddi1#StandwithIndianFarmers pic.twitter.com/2IxB5jUdxD
— Siraj Ahamad 🇮🇳 (@Siraj_As071) September 25, 2020
They are viral on both Twitter and Facebook.
With a Google reverse image search, we found that these images were tweeted by Youth Congres on September 17, 2020. According to the tweet, members of Youth Congress held a protest against the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala demanding the resignation of state higher education minister K.T Jaleel over his alleged involvement in smuggling gold through diplomatic channels. During the protest, Congress MLA VT Balaram from Thirthala got injured in a police lathi-charge.
We strongly condemn the brutal attack on Youth Congress cadres through out Kerala for protesting against LDF govt’s involvement in gold smuggling.
MLA VT Balram and workers seriously injured in the attack. State sponsored violence cannot intimidate us! pic.twitter.com/M7jYf3i67i
— Youth Congress (@IYC) September 17, 2020
Moreover, the official Twitter handle of Kerala Youth Congress, Facebook page of Jharkhand Pradesh Youth Congress, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, and Indian Youth Congress president Srinivas B V also posted images of the protest against the LDF government.
“Opposition lawmaker from Congress, VT Balaram was injured when the police charged with batons at protesters from both Congress and BJP during a protest in Palakkad. Several protesters had sustained injuries due to police action.” reads a report published by Hindustan Times on September 17, 2020. KT Jaleel is being questioned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) over his alleged connection with the Kerala gold smuggling case. Manorama News has published a video of police lathi-charging the protesters.
Therefore, images of injured protesters from the demonstration held by Youth Congress over the alleged involvement of Kerala minister KT Jaleel in a gold smuggling case were shared as ongoing farmer protests. Earlier this month, old video and images were shared as farmer protests held in several parts of the country. It is noteworthy that there have been reports of lathi-charge on the farmers protesting against the farm bills in Haryana’s Kurukshetra city.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi recently performed aarti at the Narmada Ghat in Madhya Pradesh’s Omkareshwar…
In the wake of the alleged murder of Shraddha Walkar by his partner Aftab Amin…
The video of a group of people stopping an e-rickshaw with BJP flags attached to…
Last week during the G20 summit in Bali, world leaders were informed of a missile…
Recently, several prominent BJP leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had intervened to stop…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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30th September 2020 / 6:54 pm / Last updated: 30th September 2020
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-protests-demanding-kt-jaleels-resignation-shared-as-injured-farmers/",
"author": "Kinjal"
}
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Images of protests held in the past shared as massive crowd at farmers' protest - Alt News
Archit
14th December 2020 / 6:18 pm
Farmers have been protesting against the centre’s new agricultural laws since the past few months. As per a report by The Indian Express, ‘Bharat Bandh’ strike observed by the farmers on December 8 was supported by 15 opposition parties, trade unions and two railway unions.
In the backdrop of this, Twitter user @zachjcarter posted four images of mass protests and wrote, “250 *million* people on strike in India. The revolution will not be televised.” This tweet has been retweeted over 2,000 times since December 3. (archived link)
In order to find the context behind the images, Alt News performed multiple reverse image search on Bing and TinEye.
Image 1
This image was published by a website called Portside on January 13, credited to photographer Ajit Solanki from Associated Press (AP). The caption of the image states, “Members of various trade unions shout slogans during a general strike called by various trade unions in Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2020. Trade unions have called for a country-wide strike Wednesday to protest against what they call the “anti-workers and anti-people” policies of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
As per NDTV, Business Standard and Hindustan Times, this strike was expected to see a turn out of 250 million people.
Image 2
This image was published by News Central 24×7 in 2018. The image has been credited to Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Yechury had posted this image on March 11, 2018, claiming it was shot during Mumbai’s Kisaan March in 2018.
Make in India in Davos. Makers of India in Mumbai. #KisanLongMarch #NiravModi pic.twitter.com/MUzGmjqU51
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) March 11, 2018
The image was also published by Feminism In India (FII) in their 2018 article on Kisaan March. As per FII, protestors, primarily from the tribal communities, walked 180 km to reach Mumbai.
Image 3 & 4
Both these images are available on Getty Images (3,4) along with the same caption — “Activists of Communist Party of India Marxist (CPIM), along with members of different workers unions, shout slogans as they block train tracks during a nationwide general strike called by trade unions aligned with opposition parties to protest against the Indian government’s economic policies, near the railway station in Amritsar on January 8, 2020.” The images are credited to the photographer Narinder Nanu.
The viral message also suggests that farmers’ protest saw the participation of 250 million people, which is roughly 17% of India’s population. Alt News cannot authenticate the figure however national and international media outlets, including BBC (archived link) and Business Standard (archived link), reported that over 250 million workers protested against various policies of the central government. Subsequently, several people on the internet made this claim.
None of the images tweeted by Twitter user @zachjcarter is related to the ongoing farmers’ protest. Three of the images are from the nationwide protest led by central trade unions on January 8 and one of them was from Kisaan March in 2018.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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Trigger Warning: The following story contains graphic imagery. Several users have shared images of the…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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14th December 2020 / 6:18 pm
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"author": "Archit"
}
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Photos of CPI(M) leaders morphed to portray them holding placards in support of China - Alt News
Kinjal
23rd June 2020 / 8:56 pm
Photograph of CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat holding placards which allegedly carry slogans against the Indian army are circulating on social media. The placards read, “Indian Army Down..Down, We Support To China..Zindabad.” The images are being shared in the backdrop of the ongoing border dispute with China where 20 Indian army soldiers were killed. Social media claims attempt to show that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is offering support to Communist-ruled China.
The message shared along with the images reads, “चीन और उसकी कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी इन मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्ट नेताओं को हर वर्ष लाखों डॉलर देती है इसलिए बेशर्म , बेहया , गद्दार देश की जनता के सामने खुलेआम ये सब कर रहे हैं। भारत में रहते है और भारत से ही गद्दारी सीता राम येचुरी , वृंदा करात,, दोनों वामपंथी नेता है मार्क्सवादी कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी के। जिसने 1962 के भारत – चीन युद्ध में भी चीन का समर्थन किया था।”
Several Twitter users have also shared the images.
Alt News has also received fact-check requests on its official mobile application.
A reverse-image search led us to a June 16, 2020, tweet by CPI(M) where the same images were posted. The photos were shot during a protest against the policies of the PM Modi government.
All India Protest against Modi govt’s anti-people policies.#PeopleProtestModiGovt pic.twitter.com/oJRUqXHsN5
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) June 16, 2020
Sitaram Yechury’s placard reads, “IMMEDIATELY PAY RS.7500 PER MONTH FOR THREE MONTHS TO ALL OUTSIDE INCOME TAX BRACKET.” While Brinda Karat is holding a placard that reads, “PROVIDE FREE 10 KG FOODGRAINS PER MONTHS FOR SIX MONTHS TO ALL NEEDY INDIVIDUALS.”
According to The Hindu, “The CPI(M) held nationwide protests demanding direct cash transfer to all families that do not come under the income tax net. It charges that the Narendra Modi government had failed to protect the livelihoods of millions of people during the [coronavirus] pandemic.”
In an all-party meet, CPI(M) had expressed condolences at the death of Indian army soldiers in Galwan valley.
.@SitaramYechury at all party meet:
CPIM expresses its deep condolences at the death of our army officers and soldiers in the recent clash that took place along the Indo-China LAC, at the Galwan valley in Ladakh.
Read Full Statement at:https://t.co/0tUXfjT8h3
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) June 19, 2020
Therefore, images of CPI(M) leaders Sitaram Yechury and Brinda Karat holding placards in protest against the policies of the Modi government were photoshopped to falsely project them holding placards with anti-army slogans.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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23rd June 2020 / 8:56 pm
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"author": "Kinjal"
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1,572 |
Images of slaughter waste from Meerut create alarm. What's the truth? - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
30th August 2018 / 7:46 pm / Last updated: 1st September 2018
On August 23, 2018, Abhishek Mishra, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activist tweeted, “हे राम..बहुत भयावह चित्र है..यूपी की @meerutpolice सो रही है क्या ? जीवों के कटे अंश खुलेआम सड़कों पे कैसे बिखरे है ?” (Hey Ram, this is a scary picture. Is UP’s Meerut police sleeping? How are the remains of slaughtered animals scattered on the streets? -translated). Mishra, a verified twitter user who describes himself as digital and social media advisor of VHP had retweeted a set of images shared by another Twitter account ChetnaSharmaAdv. Mishra is followed by union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Mishra was in the news recently for cancelling an OLA cab because the driver was Muslim.
हे राम..बहुत भयावह चित्र है..यूपी की @meerutpolice सो रही है क्या ? जीवों के कटे अंश खुलेआम सड़कों पे कैसे बिखरे है ? https://t.co/zl7YqdpISI
— Abhishek Mishra (@Abhishek_Mshra) August 23, 2018
A Facebook page, Sach Bharat has also shared the same set of images stating, “मेरठ में खुले आम, पहली बार। सरकार, शासन, प्रशासन, पुलिस को चुनोती।” (For the first time, Government, Governance, Administration, Police are openly challenged in Meerut -translated) It has been shared more than a thousand times.
This pictures are indeed from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. In a conversation with Alt News, Ranvijay Singh, SP City Meerut clarified, “Basically all the waste of sacrificed animals are collected at one place and from there, Nagar Nigam vans pickup the waste to dump it. There is a police chowki near the Zakir colony that is very close to the place where camps for waste collections are organized by NGOs. It has been a practice from a long time in the city.” He further said, “These are the places where such waste are collected by the NGOs as well as the Municipal corporation that is dumped somewhere outside the city.”
Mohammad Alam, a resident of Lisari Gate area corroborated in a conversation with Alt News saying, “Inspecting the photos, the image were slaughtered heads can be clearly seen is from Zakir Colony, a locality known for leather traders. This image couldn’t be a place in-front of the chowki as the slaughterhouse has now been relocated and school exists here. Nontheless, there is an existent slaughterhouse behind the Zakir Colony chowki located in the area of Lisar Gate police station. NGOs and Nagar Nigam do tow such slaughtered waste kept for dumping in the city.” In the map below, you can see the capital public school in-front of the police chowki located in Zakir Colony.
Not only are slaughter waste collection points in public places a serious health and safety issue, it can lead to people misconstruing the imagery of such places when they are shared on social media without context or with a false narrative as it was in this particular case.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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news-altnews
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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30th August 2018 / 7:46 pm / Last updated: 1st September 2018
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-slaughter-waste-from-meerut-create-alarm-whats-the-truth/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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1,573 |
Fact-check: Were 5000-year-old idols of Hindu deities discovered underwater in Bali? - Alt News
Kinjal
30th July 2021 / 8:40 pm
Recently, social media users have been widely circulating a few photos of Hindu idols seen underwater. It has been claimed that 5,000-year-old idols of Hindu deities were recently discovered underwater in the city of Bali, located in Indonesia. A Facebook page called ‘We Support Ram Temple’ posted the images with a similar claim. The post racked up 5,700 likes at the time of writing.
The photos and accompanying claims were widespread on Facebook.
The visuals also made their way to Twitter.
5000yr old Shri Vishnuji found in Bali sea, Indonesia. Now Mahabratha as per @NileshOak ji is 5500BC approx. So which Rajya of Bharat was Indonesia & did it participate in Mahabharata ? 🤔 Sanatan was always present in South Asia till Akhand Bharat boundaries 🙏🏻 @SatyaSanatanInd pic.twitter.com/6eKnifPsId
— Simply Sanatan (@SimplySanatan) July 17, 2021
In 2016, a similar video of idols underwater went viral with the same claim. The clip was amplified on YouTube.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9JggKno_U8]
First image
Alt News performed a reverse image search and located the original image on the blog of a travel portal. It was described as the Pemuteran coast in northeastern Bali. According to the article, a temple was built about 90 feet underwater off the Pemuteran coast.
Second and third image
A simple reverse image search led us to the original images in an India Times article on the Underwater Temple in Bali. The article is dated April 28, 2016.
The Underwater Temple garden can also be seen in this YouTube video uploaded by ‘Bali Bersejarah’ in 2018.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_z-Fh0ovsu4]
Are these statues 5,000 years old?
Using a keyword search, we located a YouTube video dated March 24, 2012, depicting the Temple Garden in Pemuteran. According to the description of the video, the Temple Garden was made in the year 2005 under a social/environmental project called ‘Reef Gardener’. This video was uploaded by Paul Turley, the owner of a tourist company in Bali.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up0Lol4mgig]
There are many other videos like this one on Paul’s YouTube channel.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUcAfQIyVE0]
The Reef Gardener website states that these sculptures were inspired by the nine deities of Bali. It also includes an idol of Shiva. The statue of Shiva is placed in the middle of the other eight idols. It mentions that these were constructed between May 23 and 27, 2014. The website also contains a video of one of these idols being installed underwater.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrzgnpCYfII]
It must be pointed out that a majority of Bali’s population practices Hinduism. According to the 2010 census, 83.46% of the people in Bali were Hindus.
To sum it up, idols of Hindu gods and goddesses have been installed in the ‘Temple Garden’ built underwater on one of the coasts of Bali. Pictures of the statues have been shared on social media for the past several years with the false claim that 5,000-year-old Hindu idols were discovered in Bali.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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30th July 2021 / 8:40 pm
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"author": "Kinjal"
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Coronavirus: Photos, videos viral with false "organ trading of dead bodies" claim - Alt News
Archit & Kinjal
25th July 2020 / 10:28 pm / Last updated: 27th July 2020
Multiple social media users claimed that organs were missing from the dead body of a patient who died of COVID-19 in Mumbai. On July 20, IBN 24×7 News (archived link) reported that a person from Gorai area in Mumbai was forcefully admitted to a hospital after he exhibited symptons such as mild fever, cold and cough. As per the report, he passed away and when his family members checked the corpse during cremation, they found that a few organs were missing. The report includes two images — a cloth with red stains covering presumably a dead body and an image of a dead body being put inside an incinerator. A similar report was published by Sonipat News Live on Facebook with the claim of human trafficking. This now stands deleted.
The next day, Twitter user Mufti Wahiduzzaman Siddequey tweeted four images with a similar claim. Two images in his tweet were similar to those in the IBN 24×7 news report. The other two images show two men setting up a plank that takes dead bodies inside an incinerator (archived link). These images are shared by several social media users on Facebook and Twitter.
[Siddequey’s tweet in Hindi: महारष्ट्र: एक व्यक्ति को हल्की सी सर्दी बुखार खांसी हुई तो चेक करवाने गया तो उसे पाॅजिटिव बता कर जबरदस्ती भर्ती कर दिए, फिर अचानक उसकी मुत्यु हो जाती है और पूरी बाॅडी पैक करके जलाने की तैयारी की जाती है फिर परिवार के जिद्द पर जब बाॅडी खोला जाता है तो शरीर के सारे अंग गायब..!]
Since the past week, multiple videos have gone viral that show a group of people arguing with various government officials. These videos were also shared with the “organ trade” claim. Kiran Achrekar, a Facebook user, posted multiple videos with the narrative on July 13. He wrote, “Video from Manori village people protest against corona false cases. When the villagers forcefully inspected the dead body of a corona positive patient, they found that organs were missing. That is why the villagers decided not to allow anybody to be taken from the village. This is the truth of our Manori village.” This post was shared over 1,300 times and viewed more than 50,000 times. (archive link)
Video from Manori village people protest against corona false cases.
Corona ki dead body jab gaon wale zabardasti lekar…
Posted by Kiran Achrekar on Monday, July 13, 2020
Alt News has received several requests to fact-check the videos on WhatsApp (+917600011160) and on our official Android application.
Both social media claims related to Gorai and Manori speculate that organs were missing from the dead body of a person who lost his life to COVID. In this fact-check, we will debunk the photographs and videos separately.
On July 24, Aaj Tak reported that these images were posted by Facebook user Versha Verma who works at an NGO called ‘Ek Divya Koshish’ in Lucknow. The NGO facilitates funeral for people with no family or relatives. On July 18, Verma had posted six images (that include all the viral images) on her Facebook profile. In her post, she wrote that the dead body was of an unidentified 43-year-old woman. The dead body was collected from King George’s Medical University postmodern department at Bhesa Kund for electric cremation.
#लावारिस महिला के शव के दाह संस्कार की सेवा#
#दूसरी इलेक्ट्रिक क्रीमेशन मशीन है खराब#
#कोविड-19 से हुई death की डेड बॉडी…
Posted by Versha Verma on Saturday, 18 July 2020
Alt News spoke with Verma, she informed that the cremation took place on July 18 and she was present during the process. She categorically refuted social media claims. On July 23, Verma posted on Facebook that she has filed a police complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell at Hazratganj and Gomti Nagar Extension police station, Lucknow against Delhi Crime Press reporter Om Shukla and others for spreading misinformation.
मानसिक प्रताड़ना के बाद…
#हुई सच्चाई की जीत#
#दिल्ली क्राइम प्रेस ने मानी गलती#
#लावारिस दाह संस्कार की फोटो का गलत…
Posted by Versha Verma on Wednesday, 22 July 2020
Manori is a village located in Dharavi Bhet in northern Mumbai. Alt News reached out to senior police inspector Sanjeev Narkar at Gorai police station. He said, “The incident took place on July 13. The claims about viral videos from Manori village are false. Narkar informed that the argument was sparked after Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) staff visited the locality to admit a person to an institutional quarantine centre.
YouTube channel ‘On Record Mira Bhayandar’ published a ground report where they spoke with Arvind Shetty, a resident of Manori. As per Shetty, someone did test positive, however, no COVID-19 related deaths have occurred in the area so far. Thus, refuting social media claims. He also stated that locals don’t trust institutional quarantine centres at Charkop and Malad because of issues such as poor waste management and delay in the food service.
Local newspaper Saamna also published a report on the incident on July 20. The report quoted inspector Narkar’s statement that no person died due to COVID-19 in Manori. Thus, there is no question of a dead body.
Alt News also consulted Marathi and Konkani speakers. They stated that nobody in the viral videos can be heard using the words “dead body”.
Thus, the claim that the viral images are from Gorai, Mumbai and related to organ trading is false. As per our investigation, the images are from Bhesa Kund, a Lucknow-based cremation facility. They were falsely reported by IBN 24×7 News and Sonipat News Live as “human trafficking”. Similarly, the video of locals in Manori arguing with medical workers have also been shared with a similar false narrative. Locals were not quarrelling because “organs were found missing from the dead body of a coronavirus patient.” In fact, as per the police, there have been no COVID-related deaths in the area as of July 20.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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25th July 2020 / 10:28 pm / Last updated: 27th July 2020
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"author": "Archit & Kinjal"
}
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1,575 |
Images of UP Imam injured by robber falsely shared as attacked by 'Sanghis' - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
5th November 2019 / 8:01 pm / Last updated: 5th November 2019
A set of images of an injured man is being shared on the social media with the narrative that an Imam of a mosque in Lucknow was attacked by “Sanghis-Bajrangis.” The photographs show a man whose head and the right hand is bandaged. He is sitting wearing a blood-soaked undervest. “नफ़रतों की इन्तिहा हो गई कायर संघियों। 11 बजे रात में लखनऊ में जेल रोड पर बनी मस्जिद के इमाम हाफ़िज़ अदनान साहब पर नीच, कायर संघियों-बजरंगियों ने तलवार से जानलेवा हमला किया। (Coward Sanghis have exceeded the limits of hatred. At 11 PM, Imam Hafiz Adnan at Lucknow’s Jail Road mosque was fatally attacked by coward Sanghis-Bajrangis with a sword. -translated)”. One Shaida Hussain posted the images with the same claim.
नफ़रतों की इन्तिहा हो गई कायर संघियों।
11 बजे रात में लखनऊ में जेल रोड पर बनी मस्जिद के इमाम हाफ़िज़ अदनान साहब पर नीच, कायर संघियों-बजरंगियों ने तलवार से जानलेवा हमला किया।
अल्लाह ने हिफ़ाज़त फ़रमाई।। pic.twitter.com/Krx9HgwLMk
— shaida Hussain Chaudhary (@ShaidaHussain2) October 29, 2019
Online news platform National Dastak published a report with the same narrative that the Imam was attacked by RSS and Bajrang Dal members.
Several people on Facebook and Twitter shared the photos with an identical narrative. A similar post by one Syed Hassanul Haque on Facebook was shared more than 1,600 times. According to the post, the Imam’s name is Hafeez Adnan.
11 बजे रात में लखनऊ में जेल रोड पर बनी मस्जिद के इमाम हाफ़िज़ अदनान साहब पर संघ के कार्यकर्ताओं ने तलवार से जानलेवा हमला कर दिया।
Syed Farman Ahmed Bhai
Posted by Syed Hassanul Haque on Tuesday, 29 October 2019
A Google search revealed that an Imam at a mosque in Lucknow was indeed attacked. The incident took place on October 28. However, it may be noted that his name is not Hafeez Adnan but Abdul Mukim. According to Mukim, a man attacked him with a sharp weapon when he was resting in his room at around 11 PM. He suffered injuries on his head and right hand.
#अलहम्दोलिल्लाह
लखनऊ में पुरानी जेल रोड, इको गार्डन वाली मस्जिद के इमाम मौलाना हाफ़िज अब्दुल मुक़ीम साहब पर हुए जानलेवा हमले पर धारा 307 और 452 में FIR हो चुकी है। हुसैनी सेना द्वारा अधिकारियों से बात करने पर उन्होने भरोसा दिया है कि जल्द ही अपराधी को गिरफ्तार कर लिया जायेगा । pic.twitter.com/ZMwJitgHfl
— Sajid Hashmat (@sajid_hashmat) October 30, 2019
On October 29, Alambagh police lodged an FIR against the attacker under Section 307 (attempt to murder) and Section 452 (house-trespass) of the IPC. Two days later, Suraj Prajapati, a 19-year-old resident of Barabanki, was arrested by the police. According to a press note issued by the police, Prajapati confessed to entering the Imam’s house, however, with the motive of robbery. Upon finding Mukim awake, he panicked and assaulted him twice with a pipe. Soon after, Prajapati fled the scene.
SSP LKO @ipsnaithani के निर्देशन में थाना आलमबाग पुलिस द्वारा 01 शातिर अभियुक्त गिरफ्तार। @Uppolice @dgpup @adgzonelucknow @Igrangelucknow @CMOfficeUP @JagranNews @AmarUjalaNews @UPNBT pic.twitter.com/ZVWsCk3L32
— LUCKNOW POLICE (@lkopolice) November 1, 2019
In conclusion, a case of a failed robbery wherein a man was brutally attacked by the robber was given a communal narrative by suggesting that the man was attacked by members of RSS and Bajrang Dal.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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5th November 2019 / 8:01 pm / Last updated: 5th November 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-up-imam-injured-by-robber-falsely-shared-as-attacked-by-sanghis/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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Images of Ursula Andress from James Bond movie resurface as Sonia Gandhi's photographs - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
25th March 2019 / 12:41 pm / Last updated: 25th March 2019
“चमचों की राजमाता “सोनिया गाँधी”अपने दिनों में कांग्रेस को मजबूत बनाती हुई ,,,,,,,,,,,कुछ दुलर्भ फोटो चमचों की आँखें चकाचौंध करने के लिए…तौबा तुम्हारे ये नजारे (The leader of Bootlickers, “Sonia Gandhi” is making Congress strong in her country. Some rare pictures to dazzle the eyes of bootlickers. Gosh what an imagery.),” is the caption shared with a set of images circulated as photographs of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
चमचों की राजमाता “सोनिया गाँधी” अपने दिनों में कांग्रेस को मजबूत बनाती हुई ,,,,,,,,,,,
कुछ दुलर्भ फोटो चमचों की आँखें चकाचौंध करने के लिए…
“तौबा तुम्हारे ये नजारे”– 😜😜😜
Posted by Kanak Mishra on Friday, 22 March 2019
Individual users on Facebook were at the forefront of sharing these images in the last 24 hours, including on a Facebook group We Support Narendra Modi 2019.
The photographs are actually of Swiss actress Ursula Andress on the sets of the first Bond movie Dr. No. The man pictured with Andress is Scottish actor Sean Connery, the first actor to portray the fictional character of British spy James Bond.
Alt News had debunked this set of images last year when it was viral with the identical claim that the woman in the photographs was Sonia Gandhi. A Google-reverse image search, however, proved otherwise.
We have often observed that misleading images are shared on social media as Sonia Gandhi’s photographs. Recently, we debunked a photoshopped image that attempted to show Gandhi sitting on a man’s lap. Hollywood actress Reese Witherspoon’s photograph has also been used to claim it is the image of a young Sonia Gandhi as a “bar waitress”. A photograph of Marilyn Monroe was morphed with Sonia Gandhi’s face, calling her a “bar dancer”.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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25th March 2019 / 12:41 pm / Last updated: 25th March 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-of-ursula-andress-from-james-bond-movie-resurface-as-sonia-gandhis-photographs/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Fact-check: Viral images of well-maintained UP primary school are from 2016 - Alt News
Shinjinee Majumder
6th September 2022 / 6:15 pm / Last updated: 6th September 2022
Images of a well-maintained government primary school in Uttar Pradesh are being circulated on social media. The name and address of the school — Prathmik Vidyalaya, Itayla Mafi — are visible in one of the images. Sharing the photos, many users have lamented the fact that the improved condition of government schools in Uttar Pradesh in the Yogi Adityanath regime has not made headlines in the international media. It is pertinent to note that the viral claims surfaced following a New York Times report on August 16 on the AAP government’s efforts toward improving the standard of government schools in Delhi.
Haryana’s former BJP IT Cell chief Arun Yadav tweeted these images on September 3, with the caption, “ये प्राईमरी स्कूल उत्तर प्रदेश के जिला संभल में है” (Translated: This is a primary school is located in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh). His caption further reads, “अगर ये दिल्ली की तस्वीर होती तो अंतराष्ट्रीय अखबारों में सुर्खियां बनाई जाती” (Translation: Had it been a picture of Delhi, headlines would have been made in international newspapers). (Archived link)
ये प्राईमरी स्कूल उत्तर प्रदेश के जिला संभल में है ❤️
अगर ये दिल्ली की तस्वीर होती तो अंतराष्ट्रीय अखबारों में सुर्खियां बनाई जाती .. pic.twitter.com/DRAKNFe5f2
— Arun Yadav 🇮🇳 (@beingarun28) September 3, 2022
User Tanmay Shankar also tweeted these images. His caption reads, “योगी सरकार में काम दिखावे के लिए नहीं बल्कि प्रदेश को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए होता है।” (Translation: Work is not done for show but for the progress of the state in the Yogi government). (Archived link)
प्राईमरी स्कूल, असमोली, जिला संभल उत्तर प्रदेश
का ये कुछ फ़ोटो हैं।
योगी सरकार में काम दिखावे के लिए नहीं बल्कि प्रदेश को आगे बढ़ाने के लिए होता है।
वो तो ग़नीमत है दिल्ली में ऐसा शायद ही कोई सरकारी स्कूल हो वरना दिल्ली के मालिक NYT में खबर छपवा देते।😆 pic.twitter.com/EjODkdT0Rg
— Tanmay Shankar(तन्मय शंकर)🇮🇳 (@Shanktan) September 3, 2022
Standing counsel in the Supreme Court of India for Goa, Prashant Umrao also tweeted these images on September 4 with the caption, “ये प्राईमरी स्कूल उत्तर प्रदेश के जिला संभल में है” (Translation: These are pictures of primary schools in Uttar Pradesh), thus indicating that the images are representative of government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh in general. (Archived link)
उत्तर प्रदेश के सरकारी प्राइमरी स्कूल। pic.twitter.com/WNoma63buS
— Prashant Umrao (@ippatel) September 4, 2022
Several users including Politician Sadhvi Prachi also shared these images on Facebook with the same claim.
Upon a keyword search with the name of the school on Google, Alt News found a OneIndia article dated October 19, 2016, containing the same viral images of the school in Sambhal district of UP. The report is an account of how the condition of the school building, its maintenance, overall administration and even students’ attendance improved drastically once Principal Kapil Malik took office in 2015. (Archived link)
We found a video interview of principal Kapil Malik by The Lallantop uploaded on February 7, 2017, where he takes the interviewer around the campus and gives a detailed account of how the school functions. In that interview, at the 10:00 mark, the interviewer asks Malik how much money he receives from the authorities and the government, to which Malik replies, “We don’t get any money from the authorities. Everything you see around was funded by me, from my own salary. The greenery, the bathrooms and other necessities were funded by me. I also pay for the maintenance of the school and spend around Rs. 5000 every month.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2WSH3i4Rl0?start=600]
Alt News reached out to the principal of the school, Kapil Malik, who said, “We get around Rs. 75,000 every year from the government for maintenance purposes, but that amount does not suffice. I have spent approximately Rs. 20-25 lakhs from my pocket for the construction of the present building. At present, I spend around 50,000 every year”.
He further said, “Before I got associated with the school in 2010, the school had an enrollment of only 30 students approximately. Now there are 300 students enrolled in our school. We have to refuse admission to many due to a lack of seats”.
When asked when the viral images were clicked, Malik replied, “They were taken in 2015”. It must be noted that the BJP government under Yogi Adityanath came into power in Uttar Pradesh in March, 2017.
The school was recognized as “the cleanest school” in the state in 2017. Malik received the award from Yogi Adityanath. Malik had also uploaded an image of him receiving this award on Facebook.
Posted by Kapil Malik on Monday, 13 August 2018
To sum up, the viral posts on social media along with images of a shining government primary school in Uttar Pradesh and the demand that the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government be acknowledged by international media for the “improvement of government schools in UP” are misleading.
Principal of Prathmik Vidyalaya, Itayla Mafi, Kapil Malik informed us that the government provides little funding for the school. Malik himself spent around Rs. 20-25 lakhs for the construction of the present building. He spends around Rs. 50,000 every year for maintenance. He also told Alt News that the viral photos were clicked in 2015, much before Yogi Adityanath came to power.
Student of Economics at Presidency University. Interested in misinformation.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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6th September 2022 / 6:15 pm / Last updated: 6th September 2022
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"author": "Shinjinee Majumder"
}
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Images shared to claim mob justice stopped rape incidents in Nagaland - Fact-check - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
5th December 2019 / 6:36 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2019
After the gruesome gang-rape and murder in Hyderabad where a young veterinarian was burnt to death, actor-turned-parliamentarian Jaya Bachchan suggested that culprits accused of such crimes should be “brought out in public and lynched”. Amidst the hue and cry across the country, certain images of mob justice are being shared on social media to claim efficiency in deterring crimes against women.
An image of a man stripped and tied to a pole while a mob attempts to burn him alive is garnering multiple shares on social media. It is being claimed that Syed Farid Khan, accused of raping a Naga girl in 2015, was paraded, beaten and burnt alive by a mob of 10,000 that dragged him out of the jail. The claim also asserts that no rape has taken place in the state since the incident. “यह तस्वीर सैयद फरीद खान की है जिसने 2015 में एक नागा लड़की से बलात्कार किया था जिसे दीमापुर सेंट्रल जेल में बंद किया गया था. बाद में तक़रीबन दस हज़ार की भीड़ ने उसे जेल से निकाल कर सड़कों पर नंगा घुमाया, मरम्मत, जलाया और फिर उसे चौराहे पे टांग दिया.* *रिकॉर्ड उठाकर देख लीजिए तब से नागालैंड में आजतक बलात्कार की एक भी घटना नहीं हुई”, reads the claim. Alt News has received a fact-check request of the same on its official Andriod app.
Facebook user Jitendra Tiwari also posted the same image with the message, “💡मोमबत्ती,मशाल जलाना छोड़ो, अब सीधे 😷बलात्कारी को 🤺जिन्दा 🔥जलाओ (Stop lighting candles and torches, now directly burn rapist the alive -translated)” The post that calls for violence and mob justice has garnered more than 1,500 shares.
One Deepak Chouhan shared a different image with the same claim that Syed Farid Khan was publically executed in Nagaland for raping a girl. This post has garnered close to 5,300 shares so far.
In the course of this article, we will fact-check the following claims:
Using Google reverse image search, Alt News found that the first image of the man whose feet are engulfed in fire is not from Nagaland. It’s an image of a man named Marco Quispe Jácome accused of robbery being burnt alive by villagers of Pelileo Grande in Ecuador. Hearing the shouts of Quispe, parish priest Fabricio Dávila along with the two other locals came to his rescue and doused the fire with a sack and dirt, according to a report by Ecuadorian newspaper El Universo published on October 11, 2006. The accused was later handed over to the police and taken to a hospital where it was found that he suffered second-degree burns.
“The subject was apprehended by a group of residents who were guarding the parish, who found him with a bag with keys, screwdrivers, ropes, razor and other items that, according to the inhabitants of the area, he allegedly used to commit his robberies. The detainee said it was the first time he tried to steal because he was alone and he did it because he had to support his mother and that the job as a radio technician was not enough. (-Google translated)”, reported the news outlet.
We also found an Associated Press photo which reiterated in the caption, “Mario Quishpe shouts as villagers burn his legs after allegedly being caught stealing in Pelileo Grande, Ecuador, some 75 miles south of Quito, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2006”.
A Google reverse image search of the image shared by one Deepak Chouhan revealed that it depicts a real incident from India’s northeastern state of Nagaland. Syed Sharif Uddin Khan, a 35-year-old small-time trader, was accused of a raping a 20-year-old student of a local women’s college on February 24, 2015. He was dragged out of the Dimapur Central Jail and lynched by an angry mob on March 5, 2015, according to an initial report by The Indian Express. The police had said that the mob overpowered the jail security, tied up the man and dragged him seven kilometres while thrashing him along the way. The man was believed to be an illegal Bangladeshi infiltrator, said the report. However, the outlet later reported that Khan came from a family of army men. Two of his brothers were serving in the army while one had died on duty.
“Protesters take picture from the mobile after he was dragged out of the Jail and lynched him on the highway in Dimapur, India north eastern state of Nagaland on Thursday, March 05, 2015. Protesters stormed the jail and dragged the accused and lynched him on National Highway. Police resorted to blank firing and fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob injuring scores of protesters and killing a student,” reads the caption given to a Getty Images photo shot by independent photojournalist Caisii Mao.
However, according to a Nagaland government report submitted a few days after Khan was lynched in March 2015, the accused had said to the police that he had paid the women after “consensual sex” twice. On March 12, The Indian Express reported, “When contacted, Wabang Jamir, IGP (Range), Nagaland, said that investigators were not aware of the government report and were still treating the case as one of rape.”
Alt News was unable to locate any other follow-up reports on the investigation. The then Chief Minister of Nagaland T.R. Zeliang was quoted on March 12, 2015, by The Telegraph stating that the investigation into the incident was not complete thus it could not be concluded whether the crime was rape or not. He said that the court will decide the matter while adding that media reports about the government report stating that there was “no rape” were false. In September 2015, Guwahati high court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the killing of the rape accused. After missing the deadline for the completion of the investigation, CBI filed an application asking for more time to submit the final report. On June 21, 2016, the high court granted six more months.
“According to the high court direction, the CBI registered four cases in connection with the lynching and started its investigation after collecting the case records from Nagaland police on December 10 last year. The CBI officials have inspected the crime scenes, collected electronic evidence, examined more than 40 witnesses and interrogated 29 accused persons”, stated an article in The Telegraph on June 22.
The viral rumour also claims that no incident of rape was reported in the state after the lynching of Syed Sharif Uddin Khan in 2015 but, this is false. In May 2018, NDTV reported that a 12-year-old tribal girl was allegedly raped by a non-tribal salesman in a remote village located near the Myanmar border in Mon district of Nagaland. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, the number of rape incidents in Nagaland in the years 2015, 2016 and 2017 were 35, 26, and 10 respectively.
In conclusion, an unrelated image of a mob attempting to immolate a robbery-accused in Ecuador was shared as a rape-accused being served justice by a lynch-mob in Nagaland. While the second image is related to this incident, the claim that the man was a rapist was not substantiated. Furthermore, it is untrue that no incidents of rape have been reported in the state since the 2015 lynching.
It is noteworthy that mob justice has become a talking point since the Hyderabad rape case after parliamentarians called for the culprits to be surrendered to the public and lynched. An attempt at public extrajudicial punishment was in fact made on November 30 when locals hurled slippers on the policemen who stopped them from entering the Shadnagar police station where the Hyderabad rape-accused are held. Lawmakers encouraging citizens to take the law in their own hands, coupled with social media posts promoting that mob justice deters heinous crimes, can prove to set a dangerous precedent in the public mind.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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5th December 2019 / 6:36 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2019
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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Photos, video of baby who died due to birth defect viral as newborn talking after birth - Alt News
Kinjal
31st March 2020 / 8:28 pm / Last updated: 31st March 2020
Several misleading images, videos and audio clips have lately been circulating on social media promoting misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. A set of images of an abnormal newborn child is now viral. It has been shared with the claim that the baby was born in Garoth village and her mother died after giving birth. The claim further adds that the child started speaking within one hour of her birth and said, “If you sleep tonight, you will sleep forever.”
From the Facebook profile of one Khan Ajaz, the images have drawn 4,400 shares. The complete message reads, “आज की बुरी खबर गरोठ गांव में एक लड़की हुई है जिसकी 1 घंटा भी नहीं हुआ है और वह बोल रही है कि जो सो गए वह सो गए और जो जग गए जो जग गए और उसकी मां तो मर चुकी है.”
A Twitter user @HindustaniRia_ shared a video of the baby and wrote that she was born in Rajasthan and died two hours after birth.
एक अजूबा हुआ है राजस्थान में। देखिए इस बच्ची ने जन्म लेते ही कुछ शब्द कहे और 2 घण्टे बाद इसकी मृत्यु हो गई थी। आदि मानव जैसी लग रही है। कलयुग है बहुत कुछ आश्चर्य देखना बाकी है। pic.twitter.com/bEJOwbBaqn
— Ria हिंदुस्तानी 🇮🇳 (@HindustaniRia_) March 28, 2020
Alt News has received multiple requests on its mobile application to fact-check the claim.
Alt News found that the viral claim is false. In one of the images, a board reads “स्वास्थ्य केंद्र कालनद्र” (health centre, Kalandri) and in the video, a woman can be heard speaking Rajasthani. Taking these as clues, we found that a health centre is located in Sirohi district’s Kalandri in Rajasthan. Upon speaking with the centre’s doctor S Bhati, we discovered that he is the one photographed in the viral images.
“Yes, I am the doctor in the photographs. The child was born dead and the mother is still alive,” he informed Alt News. Speaking about the child’s condition he said, “Such kids have a deficiency of folic acid hence their growth is abnormal. The medical term for the condition is ‘Anencephaly’ and it hampers the growth of the brain’s neural tube. Sometimes, babies also develop water clots on the back of their bodies.”
More information about Anencephaly is available on the website of US public health institute Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Dr Bhati also sent us videos where he gives details of the incident.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC7X7IzPLwY
Therefore, images and videos of a newborn baby who died suffering from a birth defect where parts of the brain and skull do not fully develop were shared with false claims. The assertion that the baby started talking after birth and warned that people who fall asleep will go on an eternal sleep is absurd, to put it lightly.
Photographs and videos of the baby are viral on Facebook and Twitter.
Local channel Udaipur News and YouTube channel Jio News TV also shared the video of the incident. They claimed that the abnormal child was born in Udaipur’s Gogunda.
In the past, Alt News had debunked a video of a baby born with the genetic disorder Cyclopia shared as the advent of ‘antichrist’ born in Israel. Another video of a baby suffering from a rare genetic disorder was shared as ‘demon’ baby born in Assam.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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31st March 2020 / 8:28 pm / Last updated: 31st March 2020
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-video-abnormal-newborn-child-started-speaking-after-birth-false-claim/",
"author": "Kinjal"
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Newlyweds in this photo are not father-daughter - Alt News
Kinjal
25th April 2022 / 7:21 pm / Last updated: 25th April 2022
Photos of a newlywed couple with an image of a marriage certificate are making the rounds on social media. It has been claimed that a man married his own daughter. A Facebook user shared the photo with this claim on a group called ‘I Support Rashid Miftahi Sahab’.
Twitter user ‘@ISunitaKumari’ also amplified the images and accompanying claim. (Archive link)
क्या कलियुग आ गया मेरे ईश्वर अपनी ही बेटी के साथ लव मैरिज
अपनी सगी बेटी से प्यार किया और शादी कर ली, 4 साल से दोनों के बीच प्रेम संबंध था शैतान को भी शर्म आए
ऐसा काम किया है, यह कौन सा युग चल रहा है कलयुग तो मैं नहीं मानवता उस से भी बड़ा भयंकर युग चल रहा है pic.twitter.com/ZNVbmZlmV1
— Sunita Kumari (@ISunitaKumari) April 12, 2022
The photos are widespread on Twitter and Facebook.
The photo of the marriage certificate contains the names of the man and the younger woman. He has been identified as Chadotara Dineshkumar, whereas the woman’s name is Zapadiya Shitalben. The name of her father is given as Zapadiya Dasharathbhai. Dineshkumar is a resident of Botad in the Bhavnagar district, whereas the woman hails from Surendranagar. The pair wed in the Amreli district on April 4, 2022.
The certificate mentions that the marriage was registered in Vadiya in the Amreli district. Alt News reached out to Vadiya Marriage Registrar Mahesh Ramani for more information. He said that the marriage was registered on April 4 and that the claims on social media were baseless. He also added that since the two were from different castes, they could not be father and daughter. “The woman is a Prajapati whereas the groom is from the Koli caste. Both are legal adults and produced valid documents, which is why their marriage was registered.”
This confirms that the pair seen in the viral image are not father and daughter but they do share a considerable age difference.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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25th April 2022 / 7:21 pm / Last updated: 25th April 2022
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/images-viral-with-false-claim-that-a-man-married-his-own-daughter/",
"author": "Kinjal"
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Imposter account portrays LK Advani tweeting against RSS, Modi-Shah - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
28th April 2021 / 9:29 pm / Last updated: 29th April 2021
Screenshots of tweets by a handle that goes by the username @LK_Adwani is making the rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp. Several people have believed that the former minister of home affairs tweeted, “The greatest mistake I’ve made in my life is to give support to a cruel organisation like RSS. I have always served the RSS, I have brought them (people in RSS) forward in politics, I have always thought of the betterment of the country. But I did not know that one of my mistakes will push the country to hell.”
“I did not oppose Modi-Shah because I thought they were my children who will make the nation ‘vishwaguru’. But today, they have ruined the country to an extent that citizens cannot even breathe. Had I known this, I would have never handed over this country to these businessmen,” the second tweet on the thread states.
dekho socho samjho or desh ko bachalo desh ki janta ko bachalo .modi ki bhakti tumhe le dubi hai ab.
Bharat desh ki bhakti karo
Or kuch bolna paap hai …
Posted by Syed Shahabuddin on Tuesday, 27 April 2021
Below are verification requests Alt News has received on its WhatsApp helpline number (+917600011160) and official mobile application.
The tweets were made by a fake account which later took down the tweet. The account misspells the surname of ‘Advani’ as ‘Adwani’.
The account was made in December 2020 and was taken down after the fake tweets went viral. We found an archived link of an old tweet by the account when its name used to be in Hindi.
It is noteworthy that veteran BJP leader LK Advani does not have an official verified Twitter account. We also did not find any media reports stating that he did.
An imposter account, therefore, portrayed LK Advani tweeting against the RSS, PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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28th April 2021 / 9:29 pm / Last updated: 29th April 2021
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/imposter-account-portrays-lk-advani-tweeting-against-rss-modi-shah/",
"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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1,582 |
Imposter Twitter handle poses as Disha Ravi's sister managing the activist's account - Alt News
Archit
16th February 2021 / 8:53 pm / Last updated: 16th February 2021
On February 14, Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested by Delhi Police citing that she edited the toolkit Google Doc on farmers’ protest shared by Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg. The police also alleged that Disha is a key conspirator in the toolkit’s formulation and dissemination.
Since then multiple Twitter accounts have surfaced that claim to be the official account of Disha. Out of these, the handle @climatedisha has gained over 6,000 followers and several tweets made in Disha’s name have attracted thousands of likes.
At the time of writing this article, the bio of @climatedisha reads, “Climate activist from India. Fridays for Future. Account presently handled by her cousin sister”. The account has tweeted six times out of which two tweets have been retweeted about 4,000 and 8,000 times (archived link 1 and 2). The second tweet which states “this is the only account dedicated to her” has gained over 24,000 likes. In both the tweets, the user has identified herself as Disha’s sister.
Alt News spoke to multiple people who either know Disha personally or have worked with her in a professional capacity. Each of them confirmed that Disha doesn’t have a sibling, unlike what was earlier claimed by @climatedisha. The News Minute journalist Prajwal had also tweeted the same on February 16.
Friends of Disha Ravi say this account is *not* connected to her. She is a single child and does not have a sister. https://t.co/d8DItNhlbp
— Prajwal (@prajwalmanipal) February 16, 2021
The account later posed as Disha’s cousin sister managing the activist’s account. However, a friend of Disha who used to follow her on Twitter confirmed that Disha is currently not on Twitter.
The Print’s science editor Sandhya Ramesh pointed out that @climatedisha is hiding replies that point out that it is a fake handle.
Wow, this account is hiding replies that point out that it’s fake pic.twitter.com/velSnVq6Mb
— Sandhya Ramesh (@sandygrains) February 16, 2021
A fake account claiming to be Disha Ravi’s sister and managing her account in her absence is believed to be genuine by many including journalists. Recently, multiple imposter accounts of Bharat Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait were also created. Several people, including Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, fell for one such account created in Tikait’s name.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th February 2021 / 8:53 pm / Last updated: 16th February 2021
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/imposter-twitter-handle-poses-as-disha-ravis-sister-managing-the-activists-account/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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1,583 |
Imran Khan misattributes a quote to Kahlil Gibran, but did media also get it wrong? - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
24th June 2019 / 1:42 pm
On June 19, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan ascribed a quote to Lebanese-American writer and poet, Kahlil Gibran – “I slept and dreamed that life was joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and I saw that service was joy.”
Khan’s tweet drew over 19,000 likes and more than 4,700 retweets at the time of writing.
Subsequently, mainstream media outlets carried reports claiming that Khan made a faux-pas as the quote was not Gibran’s but Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore’s. India Today, DNA, ABP News, Mid-day, Economic Times, News18, NDTV, ANI, Zee News, Times Now, Hindustan Times and Republic were some of the news organisations that called-out Khan.
Several Pakistani media outlets – Pakistan Today, Express Tribune, The News – also carried similar reports.
Alt News discovered that several websites had attributed the quote to both Gibran (1883 – 1931) and Tagore (1861 – 1941). However, none of these were either credible literary sources nor did they provide details such as the date of publication or where the lines first appeared.
Another name that often comes up during a Google search of the quote is Ellen Sturgis Hooper, a 19th century American Transcendentalist. But the difference between the attributions to her and the ones made to Tagore and Gibran are specific details like the year of publication and the source of the verse.
The lines were a part of a poem by Hooper which was published in the 19th-20th-century American Transcendentalist magazine The Dial, according to several literary sources,
Hooper was born in 1812 and died in 1848, before the birth of both Tagore (1861) and Gibran (1883).
Here’s how her poem goes:
In an 1885 journal article, a historical and biographical introduction to The Dial, author George Willis Cooke wrote that Hooper’s poem was published in the first volume (1840) of The Dial. It was later translated into Italian and attributed to the German philosopher Immanuel Kant.
The poem was published in The Dial sans Hooper’s name. This could be why it was misattributed to Kant.
Per multiple sources, Hooper had contributed 11 anonymous poems to The Dial.
A poem that was written by American poet Ellen Sturgis Hooper, published anonymously in a magazine in 1840, was misattributed to German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Through the years, different versions of the same poem were ascribed to Lebanese-American writer Kahlil Gibran and Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore. Incidentally, similar verses have also been pushed in the name of Mother Teresa.
Several versions of the quote tweeted by Imran Khan have been ascribed to Tagore. As the lines moved through time, their form kept changing while the essence remained intact.
A psychology book ‘Being Alive: Human Structure and Functions‘, published in 1942, carries a version of the quote with just the first two lines. This was the earliest reference published in Tagore’s name that we were able to locate on Google books.
In a 1986 publication for UCSF volunteers, we found that the words were altered even further. The quote was attributed to the Bengali poet, but instead of “life was joy”, it said, “life was happiness”. Instead of “I served and I saw that service was joy”, it said, “I served and I found that in service happiness is found.”
There are several such examples where the form of the poem was altered. The quote does not have proper attributions to Tagore, and even Wikipedia lists it under ‘disputed’. While Imran Khan got the attribution wrong, both Indian and Pakistani media rushed to call him out without any literary backing.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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24th June 2019 / 1:42 pm
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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1,584 |
Imran Khan's party shares old videos from Kashmir to portray recent unrest - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
26th August 2019 / 6:41 pm
“Curfews and media blackout cannot contain revolutions that emerge as a result of grave human rights violations. Yet Indian Govt continues to alienate Kashmir. Unarmed men, women, children being attacked by Indian Army. Inhumane!”
With these words, on August 24, 2019, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the political party headed by Pakistani PM Imran Khan, tweeted a video claiming that it represented the supposed brutal suppression of Kashmiris by the Indian army. The video has been viewed over 86,000 times so far.
Curfews and media blackout cannot contain revolutions that emerge as a result of grave human rights violations. Yet Indian Govt continues to alienate Kashmir. Unarmed men, women, children being attacked by Indian Army. Inhumane! #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/ixfPYd86F3
— PTI (@PTIofficial) August 23, 2019
The above tweet has been retweeted over 3500 times. With the revocation of key provisions of Article 370 by the Indian government, social media has witnessed a flurry of misinformation from all sides of the political divide.
The video in question, tweeted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and claimed to be of a recent crackdown in the Kashmir valley, is actually a combination of two old videos.
In the video tweeted by PTI, the logo of JK News (a local news channel) can be seen at the bottom right corner along with the date which states August 23, 2019. This suggests that the video has been shared recently. Moreover, the Facebook Live icon can be seen in the top left corner of the screen.
Alt News broke the video into several frames using InVid, and reverse-searched some of these frames. We found that the first part of the video i.e. from 0:00 to 1:29 minutes, pertains to a protest which took place in Kashmir in 2018. According to its description, the clashes between people and security personnel took place at HMT, Srinagar.
Alt News looked up news reports of June 2018 and found that protests had erupted on the outskirts of Srinagar a day after the J&K chief of the Islamic State (IS) was killed in an encounter at Anantnag in Kashmir.
We compared key frames of the video tweeted by PTI with the video from 2018, and found that the two are identical.
The second part of the video tweeted by PTI i.e. from 1:29 minutes onward, pertains to a video of violence in J&K published by Associated Press. This video is from July 2017, and has been posted below. Its description states, “Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas Wednesday in the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir as residents carried the body of a young rebel killed with two other militants during a gunbattle with Indian troops in the disputed region. The gunfight began overnight after Indian troops raided western Radbugh village following a tip that militants were hiding there, said police Inspector-General Muneer Ahmed Khan.”
Once again, Alt News compared the two videos and ascertained that they pertain to the same event.
In conclusion, the video posted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on Twitter, is a combination of two videos dating back to 2018 and 2017 respectively. They do not pertain to the recent developments in J&K. The claim was earlier fact checked by Boom.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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26th August 2019 / 6:41 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/imran-khans-party-shares-old-videos-from-kashmir-to-portray-recent-unrest/",
"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
}
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1,585 |
Woman who died due to medical negligence in 2018 misidentified as Hathras victim - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
5th October 2020 / 5:58 pm
On September 29, the victim in the alleged rape case from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh passed away in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. Following her death, social media users began sharing an image which they claimed was of the deceased victim. On October 2, Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy posted two photos of himself paying tribute the victim. A photograph of a woman dressed in pink salwar suit was used for the purpose.
On October 1, several Congress leaders held demonstrations around the country to condemn the Hathras incident. Tamil Nadu Congress also tweeted the same woman’s photo along with other pictures of their demonstration.
This picture had begun circulating on social media on September 29, the day the victim passed away. Major Surendra Poonia was among those who tweeted it.
People have been sharing the image widely on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms demanding justice for the victim.
This photo does not show the alleged Hathras rape victim.
This was clarified in a Facebook post by the brother of the woman seen in the image. This photo is related to a woman’s death due to medical negligence in Chandigarh in 2018. Ajay Jeetu Yadav wrote in a Facebook post on September 29, 2020, that this is his sister’s photo who had died two years ago. He requested social media users not to share this picture in connection with the Hathras case. He also mentioned that he had started an online campaign to get justice for his sister when the Chandigarh police refused to file an FIR.
ज्यादा से ज्यादा शेयर करे ।
नोट- ये फोटो जो आप लोग हाथरस केस के साथ जोड़कर शेयर कर रहे है ये फोटो मेरे बहिन की है जिसकी…
Posted by Ajay Jeetu Yadav on Tuesday, 29 September 2020
Alt News noticed that the picture now being misused was part of a Facebook post Yadav had shared back in July 2018 to demand justice for his sister Manisha Yadav.
We also looked at a few other news reports from July 2018. Manisha’s death had been covered by Punjab Kesari on July 25, 2018. Apart from this, Dainik Bhaskar also published a detailed report on the incident. It states, “Manisha was admitted to Landmark Hospital after getting a check-up done there on July 16, 2018. After this, her father was asked to arrange Rs 2 lakh. Two days later, Manisha was taken to the operation theatre for surgery. Her father alleged that the doctors did not tell him why she needed surgery when she seemed fine.”
The reports further adds, “After the surgery, Manisha was admitted to the ICU. Her family members were not allowed to meet her, and none of them knew how she was doing. On July 22, they were told that Manisha’s condition was serious and she would have to be referred to Fortis Hospital. She was sent to Fortis in a Landmark Hospital ambulance. The Landmark staff left shortly after dropping her there. After her medical check-up, doctors at Fortis Hospital declared that Manisha had already died. Hearing this, her family went into shock. They did not know what the doctors had done to her that led to her death. Her family then began protesting outside Landmark Hospital and called the police. However, the police did not take any action against the doctors.” A Dainik Jagran report from July 2019 stated that the family demanded Rs 65 lakh compensation for their daughter’s death following the surgery.
Social media claims have therefore misidentified the woman as the Hathras victim. The picture shows Manisha Yadav from Chandigarh who died due to medical negligence in 2018.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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5th October 2020 / 5:58 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/in-2018-in-chandigarh-her-image-shared-as-hathras-rape-victim/",
"author": "Priyanka Jha"
}
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1,586 |
Amitabh Bachchan's photo with Ashok Chavan viral as actor meeting Dawood Ibrahim - Alt News
Kinjal
21st September 2020 / 1:59 pm
A picture of actor Amitabh Bachchan shaking hands with a man has been going viral on social media. Users are claiming this photo is proof of a link between Bachchan and the infamous underworld gangster Dawood Ibrahim. They also believe that it is this connection between the two which prompted Jaya Bachchan to hit back at those targetting the Indian entertainment industry over alleged drugs connection. On September 18, Facebook user Shailendra Jora posted the picture, writing, “I am your father by blood, but I am your slave..! This old picture of Dawood Ibrahim and Amitabh Bachchan has now been released. That’s why Jaya Bachchan is all fired up over Bollywood’s drugs connection. Shame on Amitabh Bachhan.!” His post had been shared 1,100 before it was taken down (archived link).
A Twitter user shared this picture with the same claim.
A few other netizens also shared the image on Facebook and Twitter with the message, “अंतरराष्ट्रीय अपराधी दाऊद इब्राहिम और अमिताभ बच्चन।”
A reverse image search led us to an article by the Times of India dated March 25, 2010. According to this report, the person shaking hands with Amitabh Bachchan is senior Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan.
Several other media outlets, including The Hindu, India TV, NDTV, and The Indian Express shared photos from Amitabh Bachchan and the politician’s meeting.
According to the report in The Hindu from March 27, 2010, Chavan, the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra, met the actor on March 24, 2010, at the inauguration of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Various senior leaders from Congress had objected to this meeting since the actor is the brand ambassador of the BJP-ruled state of Gujarat.
Abhishek Bachchan had clarified the origins of the picture on September 18 in his reply to a tweet. Following this, the user he replied to deleted their tweet.
भईसाहब, यह फ़ोटो मेरे पिताजी और महाराष्ट्र के पूर्व मुख्य मंत्री श्री अशोक शंकरराव चव्हाण की हैं।
🙏🏽
— Abhishek Bachchan (@juniorbachchan) September 18, 2020
Thus, the photo in question does not show Amitabh Bachchan shaking hands with Dawood Ibrahim. It was actually taken during a meeting between the actor and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in 2010.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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21st September 2020 / 1:59 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/in-the-viral-image-amitabh-bachchan-is-not-with-dawood-ibrahim-but-ashok-chavan/",
"author": "Kinjal"
}
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Parties, politicians tweet image of US Navy ship to commemorate Indian Navy day - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
4th December 2019 / 10:59 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2019
Indian Navy celebrated its 48th Navy Day on December 4, the day when the Indian navy under Operation Trident had launched an attack on Karachi harbour during 1971’s Indo-Pak war. Every year, the Indian Navy celebrates the victory and commemorates the role of the force during the war. Multiple users paid their tribute to the forces on social media. This included the official handle of political parties and their leaders.
Indian National Congress tweeted an image of a combat ship on the occasion to honour the brave personnel of the forces. It was later taken down from their timeline.
Surprisingly, the same image was tweeted by Lt. Governor of Puducherry Kiran Bedi with a message, “we salute all the women and men in the #Navy for their bravery, dedication and patriotism.”
Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje posted the image to commemorate the day on Twitter.
Adding to the list, state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan News put out a tweet which included the same photo.
In 2017, the official Twitter handle of Bharatiya Janata Party had tweeted the photograph on the same occasion.
Greetings on Indian Navy Day. Let’s wear Armed Forces flag with honour and pride. Contribute generously to the ‘#ArmedForcesFlagDay Fund’ to assure our soldiers that the entire nation cares for them & their families. https://t.co/sFwfNCgrcA pic.twitter.com/PHtqYm9QZU
— BJP (@BJP4India) December 4, 2017
A Google reverse image search revealed that the ship in the picture is US Navy’s Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship. In 2010, Stars and Stripes captioned the image, “Defense secretary Robert Gates has called for 55 Littoral Combat Ships, which are designed to operate in shallow, or littoral, waters.”
The official website of the US Navy said, “The Littoral Combat Ship would be designed as a focused-mission, modular, surface combatant smaller than a FFG but larger and more capable than a PC or MCM ship. LCS was envisioned to be an independently deployable, theater-based ship, capable of changing primary missions through modular Mission Package.”
In conclusion, an image of US Navy ship was tweeted by the official handles of INC and BJP including the former BJP chief minister and the office of Puducherry’s governor to commemorate the Navy Day celebrated by Indian Navy on December 4.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th December 2019 / 10:59 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2019
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/inc-bjp-commemorate-indian-navy-day-by-posting-images-of-u-s-navy-combat-ship/",
"author": "Jignesh Patel"
}
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1,588 |
Congress uses morphed image to show Hindu-Muslim support for the party - Alt News
Archit
13th January 2022 / 7:47 pm / Last updated: 13th January 2022
Various social media handles of the Indian National Congress (INC) shared an image of two men from the Hindu and Muslim communities holding a poster of the party. The image has been shared ahead of the upcoming poll in Uttar Pradesh.
It was posted by UP East Youth Congress on Twitter and Facebook (1, 2).
गंगा जमुनी तहजीब की तस्वीर
चंद ज़हरीले लोगो के जहर से
खत्म नही होने वाली ।
ये तस्वीर इस और भी इशारा कर रही है कि उत्तरप्रदेश के दिल मे इस बार सिर्फ कांग्रेस है ।
हिन्दू मुस्लिम सिक्ख ईसाई
आपस में हम भाई भाई!
बोलता उत्तरप्रदेश आ रही है काँग्रेस!#AaRahiHaiCongress pic.twitter.com/IfXYI7JRWk
— UP East Youth Congress (@IYC_UPEast) January 10, 2022
This image was shared on several Facebook groups, including politician Jittu Gaharwar and We Support Indian National Congress.
#AaRahiHaiCongress
गंगा जमुनी तहजीब की तस्वीर
चंद ज़हरीले लोगो के जहर से
खत्म नही होने वाली।
ये तस्वीर इस और भी…
Posted by Jittu Gaharwar on Monday, 10 January 2022
Alt News performed a reverse image search and found another version of the image where the same men can be seen holding a poster of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. This image was posted on March 3, 2021, by Facebook user Prabir Kar Rajarhat Newtown.
The image was posted by Banerjee’s political campaign’s FB page ‘Didi Ke Bolo’ on March 2 last year. A day prior to Prabir Kar’s post.
‘সামাজিক ঐক্য দিচ্ছে রায়
বাংলা নিজের মেয়েকেই চায়’
আপনি কি আগামী দিনেও বাংলায় উন্নয়ন চান?
তাহলে, এই ওয়েবসাইটে গিয়ে…
Posted by Didi Ke Bolo on Tuesday, 2 March 2021
To sum it up, Congress posted a doctored image of two men from different communities holding a party poster in order to show that both the communities support them.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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13th January 2022 / 7:47 pm / Last updated: 13th January 2022
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/inc-share-doctored-image-to-claim-hindu-muslim-from-up-support-them/",
"author": "Archit"
}
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1,589 |
Has incessant trolling led to Modi Govt taking a U-turn on their Green Diwali initiative? - Alt News
Sam Jawed
11th October 2017 / 9:53 pm / Last updated: 11th October 2017
“Welcome decision by the SC on ban of firecrackers sales in NCR. Comes as a huge support for my #GreenDiwali initiative for our environment,” tweeted Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change on hearing of the Supreme Court ban on the sale of firecrackers in NCR. The minister is a longtime advocate of Green Diwali. “As a doctor, ENT surgeon in particular, I’ve seen people pour into hospitals on Diwali night suffering from burns, eye, ear injury, asthma,” he tweeted when he launched the Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali campaign in August this year. He has voiced his concerns against crackers time and again and in 2014 as well he had tweeted that “Your merry making should not be cause of another’s trauma. Let’s fight noise pollution.” Incessant trolling on Twitter has now forced him to delete his tweets celebrating the Supreme Court ban.
After the Minister deleted his tweet, many in the right-wing celebrated this as an achievement.
What the…! Dr Harshvardhan deleted his tweet cheering SC order? Matlab kuchh hope hai, that backlash is working!
— हम भारत के लोग (@India_Policy) October 9, 2017
We will take care of all those street naxalites but what about those we voted? After outrage @drharshvardhan deleted his pro ban tweets. pic.twitter.com/GJ4Xx5WXHe
— Kailash Wagh 🇮🇳 (@kailashwg) October 9, 2017
Here is the list of tweets that Dr Harsh Vardhan has now quietly deleted.
It is rather shocking that the minister has chosen to delete his tweets despite the Central Pollution Control Board supporting the application in Supreme Court to temporarily ban firecrackers and the Minister himself having lead the government’s Green Diwali initiative.
It was in August this year that the ministry of environment, forest and climate change launched the “Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali” campaign with much fanfare. A press release by PIB gives us details of the scale of celebrations. Addressing a gathering of about 800 school children, Dr. Harsh Vardhan impressed upon them the importance of their contribution towards reducing pollution by not bursting harmful fire crackers during Diwali. He also administered a ‘Pledge for a Green and Healthy Diwali’ to the gathering of students. It was planned that “the Pledge will be widely circulated to the schools/colleges and other educational institutions and the school administration will be requested to administer the said Pledge during their school assembly up to Diwali.” With a week left for Diwali, we presume this must have already been done by now by all schools in NCR.
A week back we kicked off the Harit Diwali campaign, joined in by around 800 school kids,their teachers, principals- with lots of enthusiasm pic.twitter.com/qmszg8TczI
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 24, 2017
Happy to know that participants also took a Harit-Diwali Swasth Diwali Pledge for school children, teachers and principal #SwachhataHiSeva pic.twitter.com/L7Wxm8JcPJ
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) September 29, 2017
The press release puts on record the stand of the Ministry on the issue:
Diwali is an integral part of our rich tradition and a festival that embodies joy and happiness. In recent times, the pattern of celebration has changed somewhat and has got associated with excessive bursting of crackers, which contributes significantly to air and noise pollution. As a result, there has been a significant impact on the environment and health of the people.
As has been the experience in the past few years, airborne pollution has been rising above safe limits during winter in many cities. The excessive burning of crackers during Diwali aggravates the problem. The pollution levels in Delhi last year, especially post Diwali, reached such levels that the government had to declare an emergency situation, which had socio-economic consequences like closing down of schools, construction sites and power stations.
The Ministry also highlighted the issue of pollution in relation to the FIFA U-17 World Cup. “It is an important occasion and a matter for pride for India. It is important for us to ensure that there is no inconvenience caused in the conduct of the event and our national image is protected and enhanced.”
A host of activities and competitions were planned to promote Green Diwali among school children. These included stickers/logo distribution, poster competition, advertisement on public transport systems, public appeal using Radio/FM, involving industry associations and other stakeholders. An online competition was also planned on the theme ‘Pollution Free Diwali’. The best of these clips were planned to be used officially to promote the theme across the country. A poster-making competition was run by the ministry on its website.
The campaign promised to reach out to each and every school.
We shall reach out to each and every school in the town so as to get the school kids to inspire all for a successful #GreenDiwali campaign. pic.twitter.com/vz9qvacaAS
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 24, 2017
The Minister’s tweets also highlight the impact of firecrackers on environment and health of people.
Crackers contribute significantly to air & noise pollution. As a result, there's been significant impact on environment & health of the ppl. pic.twitter.com/10pCe9jmTE
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 17, 2017
Keeping all these in mind, I believe we must change the way we celebrate Diwali ; help reduce air and noise pollution and other ill effects. pic.twitter.com/q2CZgGCI4W
— Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) August 17, 2017
Despite his well documented views regarding the issue of fire crackers and pollution, Dr Harsh Vardhan has quietly deleted his recent tweets after the Supreme Court ban fearing the wrath of the trolls. The stand of the Union government via the Harit Diwali initiative of the ministry is clear. Central Pollution Control Board’s support for the temporary ban also reflects Union government’s stand on this issue. Why then have the minister and the government stepped back once the debate got heated? Where are the senior voices of the government in support of their own Harit Diwali, Swasth Diwali campaign? Isn’t it time that those who were reaching out to “each and every school in town” also make an effort to reach out to calm their supporters’ reactions on social media or are trolls going to decide the policies of this Government? Dr Harsh Vardhan by deleting his tweets has taken a U-turn on an initiative that he has been leading for many months now.
Nobody's cheerleader, I tweet at @samjawed65
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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11th October 2017 / 9:53 pm / Last updated: 11th October 2017
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/incessant-trolling-lead-modi-govt-taking-u-turn-green-diwali-initiative/",
"author": "Sam Jawed"
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1,590 |
Incident of 2016 passed off as harassment of pastor by Hindu Yuva Vahini workers in UP - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
19th April 2019 / 7:05 pm
“This is India… In Uttar Pradesh a Christian pastor is being given a donkey ride after shaving his head in half. This inhuman act was done by the activists of a youth organization, Hindu Yuvavahini Bajrag Dal founded by Yogi Adityanath.”
This message has been shared along with a photograph which shows a man with a half shaven head sitting on a donkey, surrounded by men sporting saffron.
This is India… In Uttar Pradesh a Christian pastor is being given a donkey ride after shaving his head in half. This inhuman act was done by the activists of a youth organization, Hindu Yuvavahini Bajrag Dal founded by Yogi Adityanath pic.twitter.com/9fctTbvC9y
— Nadeem Salahri (@NadeemSalahri) April 18, 2019
The above tweet has been retweeted over 1700 times and ‘liked’ over 2700 times since it was posted on April 18. The message and photo have been shared by several individuals on Twitter.
Alt News fact-checked this claim and found that the photograph represents an incident which had taken place at Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh in January 2016. According to a report by The Telegraph, “Suspected Bajrang Dal activists tonsured the head of a youth in Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh and paraded him on a donkey for four hours last evening after accusing him of being involved in conversions.”
The report states that Awadhesh Kumar, the youth was finally rescued by the police, and five Bajrang Dal members along with the barber who had tried to shave his head were arrested. In his defence, Awadhesh Kumar had denied compelling anyone to convert. He had filed an FIR against 25 Bajrang Dal members and about 200 unidentified men. It may be noted that the person in question is NOT a Christian pastor, as claimed on social media.
Jalaun (UP): Bajrang Dal shaves man’s head, parade him on donkey for allegedly converting 3 Hindus to Christianity pic.twitter.com/JQdqyGiMLw
— ANI (@ANI) January 30, 2016
Further, it may be pointed out that the message refers to “Hindu Yuvavahini Bajrag Dal”. Bajrang Dal and Hindu Yuva Vahini are two separate organisations, albeit within the fold of the Sangh parivar. Bajrang Dal is the youth wing of the VHP and a militant wing of the parivar. Hindu Yuva Vahini is a youth organisation founded by UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
In conclusion, an incident from January 2016 has been passed off as recent, along with the false claim that the harassed person is a pastor.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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19th April 2019 / 7:05 pm
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"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
}
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1,591 |
Incident of mob assault in Bihar shared with false, communal narrative - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
28th September 2019 / 4:58 pm
On September 27, Prashant Patel Umrao, who has on numerous occasions spread misinformation via his Twitter account, quote-tweeted a tweet by actor Ajaz Khan, accusing the latter of “spreading hatred” and attempting to “create communal tension” in the country.
Dear @MumbaiPolice, This fake news peddler @AjazkhanActor is again spreading hatred & want to create Communal Tension in Country. He is on bail, still doing mischief again.
Truth is that Abu Kamil raped a girl & was beaten by his community members only. https://t.co/oWcGRIpKVV
— प्रशान्त पटेल उमराव (@ippatel) September 27, 2019
Ajaz Khan had tweeted a photograph of an injured man, claiming he is Abu Kamil, a Muslim teacher in Mahua, Bihar who was beaten up by a mob. Prashant Patel Umrao tweeted that Ajaz Khan is lying, and that Abu Kamil had “raped a girl”, and was beaten up by members of his own community. Umrao has a following of over 120,000 on Twitter, and this tweet has already been retweeted over 6500 times.
The same narrative was advanced by ShankhNaad, a popular handle which often posts misinformation of communal nature. ShankhNaad’s Facebook post has been shared over 500 times.
An exhibit of how this failed over-actor Ajaz Khan is spreading communal hate and inciting communal strife in the…
Posted by Shankh Naad on Friday, September 27, 2019
Prashant Patel Umrao’s claim that the injured person seen in the photo, Abu Kamil was thrashed by his own community members for having sexually assaulted a girl, is completely false. Alt News found tweets wherein social media users had uploaded a video clip pertaining to the incident. The clip was a video report, supposedly broadcast by Aaj Tak.
Alt News confirmed that Aaj Tak had indeed broadcast a report on the incident in its morning bulletin. The video clip of the report is posted below.
The report states that Shadab (Abu Kamil), who runs a coaching centre in Patna, was forced into a car when he was on his way to Hajipur. He was robbed and beaten up and then thrown out of the car. When the people of the nearby village saw Shadab lying injured on the ground, instead of helping him, mistook him for a thief and thrashed him. Police later came to know of the incident, rescued him and admitted him to the hospital. The report was filed from Vaishali.
This is the only media related information about the incident which Alt News could find. There are no other news reports of the incident.
To ascertain the veracity of the incident and discover the facts of the case, Alt News contacted Sarai police station, which confirmed, “Yes, this incident did take place. The victim had been thrown out of a vehicle, after which he was wandering in a helpless state. Some people from the village nearby gathered around him and in an act of mischief, branded him a thief and started thrashing him. A FIR has been filed in the case and two people have been arrested in the case.” (translated from Hindi).
Rubbishing the claim that the person was beaten up because he had sexually assaulted a girl, the police said, “Nothing of that sort had happened. He was beaten up as he was in a disoriented state and was branded a thief by some villagers.”, adding that the claim that the victim was beaten up by members of his own community, is false. Moreover, police confirmed that the image circulating on social media is indeed that of the mob assault victim.
Prashant Patel Umrao and ShankhNaad’s narrative of the incident is false. The victim had not committed sexual assault, as claimed. Also, he was not beaten up by members of his own community.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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28th September 2019 / 4:58 pm
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"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
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1,592 |
Incorrect voter information of Jamia shooter circulated to suggest he's not a minor - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
3rd February 2020 / 9:10 pm / Last updated: 3rd February 2020
A young man from Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar (Gautam Buddha Nagar district) turned up in New Delhi on Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, January 30. He pulled out a gun amid a crowd of students from Jamia Milia Islamia agitating against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and injured a protester. Soon after, news agency ANI shared a copy of the shooter’s Grade 10 CBSE mark sheet, according to which his date of birth is April 2002. This suggested that he is a minor.
Subsequent to ANI’s tweet, a counter-claim began floating on social media via a screenshot of a person’s voter information taken from the website of the Election Commission of India (ECI). The name on the screenshot matches the shooter’s name. The state (Uttar Pradesh) and the constituency (Jewar) also match with his residence. The document states his father’s name as ‘Deepchand Sharma’.
Among the ones who shared the screenshot was one Dr Azim Khan who wrote that this serves as ‘proof’ that the shooter is an adult.
Academic Ashok Swain also claimed that the accused is an adult based on the screenshots.
However, he later took down his tweet.
On January 3. Firstpost published a report titled, “Jamia shooter’s age row: CBSE certificate shows him as ‘minor’, EC document shows he’s registered voter since April 2019.” The report states, “While several media reports after the 30 January incident confirmed that Sharma was a “minor”, new details based on details fished out of the Election Commission website show that the shooter is not a minor after all. However, verification of these details are still underway.”
Several users have also shared a screenshot of voter details from the website electoralsearch.in.
On January 30, TV9 Bharatvarsh published a report on the shooter’s age where the media outlet attached a photocopy of his Aadhaar card. His date of birth on the card – April 8, 2002 – matches with the one stated on the CBSE mark sheet (which has also been included in TV9 Bharatvasrh report). However, there is a mismatch in the father’s name. The viral ECI document states the father’s name as ‘Deepchand Sharma’, which does not match with the shooter’s father’s name reported by TV9 Bharatvarsh.
The names of the accused’s family members are not revealed in this report to protect the identity of a minor under Indian law.
Another report by Dainik Bhaskar carries the father’s name which matches with the one reported by TV9 Bharatvarsh.
A YouTube channel ‘Janjwar जनज्वार’ uploaded a ground report from Jewar where the channel spoke with neighbours and family members of the shooter, including his father who introduces himself at 6:35 minutes into the broadcast. The man does not refer to himself as ‘Deepchand Sharma’. The report also shows the shooter’s CBSE mark sheet where his father’s and mother’s names are visible. The father’s name matches with the one provided by TV9 Bharatvarsh and Dainik Bhaskar.
For further corroboration, Alt News rummaged through voter data on the ECI website.
To check an individual’s voter data, one has to provide mandatory details such as his/ her name, father’s or husband’s name, age or date of birth and state. Details about district and assembly constituency are optional but truncate the search results. A search on the ECI website with the accused’s details (both mandatory and optional), as reported in the media, throws no results. This means that there is no registered voter with those details.
Alt News also scoured the ECI website without providing specific details of district and constituency and only the mandatory details. We found only one voter (highlighted in red below) whose name and father’s name are the same as the shooter’s details. He is 19 years of age however, hails from Saharanpur unlike the shooter who hails from Gautam Buddha Nagar’s Jewar. For the rest, the father’s name was not an exact match as it carried a middle name.
The screenshot of the voter details viral on social media thus, do not match with the information available about the Jamia shooter, as reported in the media. His father’s name is not Deepchand Sharma, as corroborated via the father’s interview on the YouTube channel ‘Janjwar जनज्वार’.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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3rd February 2020 / 9:10 pm / Last updated: 3rd February 2020
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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1,593 |
India-China dispute: 43 Chinese soldiers killed? Media outlets and journalists mislead - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
17th June 2020 / 1:20 am / Last updated: 17th June 2020
On June 16, the ongoing border dispute between India and China took a critically violent turn as the Indian side reported the death of 20 soldiers in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley.
Indian Army says a total of 20 Indian soldiers have died in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 16, 2020
Soon after, the news of “43 Chinese troops killed” in the face-off began doing the rounds. This was tweeted by DD News which credited the information to “agency reports”.
Hindi media outlets Navjivan, India TV and ABP News claimed the same.
Several others – Major Gaurav Arya, India TV anchors Rajat Sharma and Sushant Sinha, ABP News journalist Sumit Awasthi, NewsX anchor Shehzad Poonawalla – also jumped on the bandwagon.
A Twitter handle News Line IFE cited Gaurav Arya as the source and put out a tweet with the same claim. In an earlier Alt News Fact Check, News Line IFE was found to be the source of the unverified claim that five Chinese soldiers were killed in the clashes.
OpIndia, its editor Nupur Sharma and Twitter user The Skin Doctor also promoted the ‘news’ of 43 Chinese soldiers killed.
India Today anchor Rajdeep Sardesai wrote that ANI claimed based on “Chinese intercepts” that “43 Chinese soldiers [were] killed in the clashes”. He further wrote that there hasn’t been any confirmation from the Chinese side.
National Spokesperson of VHP Vijay Shankar Tiwari wrote, “43 चीनी सैनिक भी मारे गए (43 Chinese soldiers were also killed).”
The claim was based on news agency ANI’s tweet which quoted “sources” and claimed that the Chinese have suffered 43 casualties, including the dead and injured.
Indian intercepts reveal that Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in face-off in the Galwan valley: Sources confirm to ANI pic.twitter.com/xgUVYSpTzs
— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2020
Editor of ANI live services Ishaan Prakash quoted tweeted ANI and wrote, “First confirmation of numbers of injured/dead in the Chinese side”, which is the meaning of the word ‘casualties’.
First confirmation of numbers of injured/dead in the Chinese side https://t.co/z5Lvaql7Jp
— ishaan prakash (@ishaan_ANI) June 16, 2020
It is to be noted that ANI did not give an exact figure on the number of Chinese soldiers who died but wrote that the number “43” includes both killed and wounded.
The Chinese government has not revealed the number of casualties on their side. The Editor-in-Chief of China-based Global Times tweeted this earlier today. Furthermore, no official figures on the Chinese casualties have been put out by the Indian army as well.
Chinese side didn’t release number of PLA casualties in clash with Indian soldiers. My understanding is the Chinese side doesn’t want people of the two countries to compare the casualties number so to avoid stoking public mood. This is goodwill from Beijing.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 16, 2020
Defence journalist Shiv Aroor tweeted, “NO official word on Chinese casualty figures, all leaks/source stuff doing rounds.”
*NO official word on Chinese casualty figures, all leaks/source stuff doing rounds*
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) June 16, 2020
Deputy Editor at The Indian Express Sushant Singh similarly tweeted that there has been no official army statement on the number of Chinese casualties, “43 or 430 or whatever”.
There is not a word about any Chinese casualties, fatal or non fatal, in the official army statement. 43 or 430 or whatever!
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) June 16, 2020
Therefore, ANI’s tweet on alleged casualties on the Chinese side, both dead and injured, was misrepresented by many as “43 Chinese soldiers killed” in the skirmish. It is also noteworthy that neither the Chinese side nor any prominent Indian defence journalist has confirmed the number of casualties in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
[Update: The copy earlier claimed that Rajdeep Sardesai claimed that 43 Indian soldiers were killed. The error has been corrected.]
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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17th June 2020 / 1:20 am / Last updated: 17th June 2020
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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1,594 |
India-China dispute: Video from May shared as recent - Alt News
Archit
18th June 2020 / 7:37 pm / Last updated: 18th June 2020
A video is doing the rounds on social media with the claim, “Chinese vehicle and a soldier captured in Ladakh.”
Chinese vehicle and a soldier captured in Ladakh. Spread this in all your groups and with your friends, so that people don’t ask for the proof later.
As Received via WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/j7rJbq2s1N
— ದೇಶಭಕ್ತ Nagaraju_KR 🇮🇳 (@nagaraju_kr) June 17, 2020
The clip is being shared in the backdrop of India-China border dispute causing the death of at least 20 Indian army soldiers while the Chinese side has not confirmed the number of casualties in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). This led to speculation on social media and mainstream media.
Alt News has received several fact-check requests for the video.
The same video was viral on May 31 after it was reported earlier in the month that Chinese and Indian troops engaged in a face-off near Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh and Naku La, Sikkim.
Dear Paki Friends
See ! How your masters are being b€at€d by IA in Laddakh for violating LAC. It is just start, many more clips are coming.
Har har Mahadev#LAC #IndoChinaFaceoff pic.twitter.com/MZ6P5JEbr9
— Udit Pratap Singh (@Uditprs) May 30, 2020
The clip has been revived after the death of at least 20 Indian soldiers in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan valley. It shows Indian and Chinese troopers engaged in stone-pelting. The video is shot from the Indian soldiers’ point of view. They can be seen attacking a Chinese vehicle and an injured army man (presumably Chinese) is lying on the road with his head bleeding. The Chinese soldier is protected by Indian troops with tactile shields.
Journalist Shiv Aroor tweeted the video on June 17 describing it as, “most recent one from late May in Pangong”.
Clearer and clearer that the June 15 bloodbath in Galwan was not spontaneous, but was 100% Chinese premeditated. Spontaneous clashes between India-China troops have never resulted in death or even serious injury, for instance this most recent one from late May in Pangong: pic.twitter.com/0xR1HzEc74
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) June 17, 2020
A video from late May is, therefore, being circulated as a recent incident.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th June 2020 / 7:37 pm / Last updated: 18th June 2020
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"author": "Archit"
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1,595 |
India Today, Aaj Tak run news on Ahmad Massoud based on fake Twitter handle - Alt News
Priyanka Jha
7th September 2021 / 1:34 pm / Last updated: 7th September 2021
In a recent ‘breaking news’ segment, India Today claimed that Ahmad Massoud, head of the National Resistance Force of Afghanistan (NRFA), tweeted a photo claiming that a Pakistani Air Force fighter jet had been shot down in Panjshir. During the broadcast, the channel aired a tweet that showed a picture of a fighter plane. (Archive link)
Aaj Tak also reported, “Panjshir rebel leader Ahmad Massoud has claimed that Pakistani jets were shot down by Panjshir fighters.” The channel claimed that Massoud tweeted, “Pakistani jet plane shot down by our lion cubs. Resistance Panjshir.”
Hindi daily Hindustan made the same claim in a report.
मसूद ने दावा किया है कि पंजशीर में #Taliban के पीछे #Pakistan और आईएसआई का सपोर्ट हैhttps://t.co/EeBpn05MpI
— Hindustan (@Live_Hindustan) September 6, 2021
According to Dainik Bhaskar, “Taliban fighters claimed victory over Panjshir on Monday. Meanwhile, Panjshir fighters and Northern Alliance forces have declared a rebellion throughout Afghanistan under the leadership of Ahmad Massoud.”
तालिबानी हुकूमत LIVE: पंजशीर के लड़ाकों का पूरे अफगानिस्तान में विद्रोह का ऐलान; तालिबान की मदद कर रहे पाकिस्तानी फाइटर जेट को मार गिराने का दावाhttps://t.co/IzAKIISRPH #Taliban #pakistan #Panjshir #Afganistan pic.twitter.com/bfpDTzhzmr
— Dainik Bhaskar (@DainikBhaskar) September 6, 2021
Replying to India Today’s aforementioned tweet, Pakistani journalist Hamza Azhar Salam said that the tweet which formed the basis for the report was posted by a fake handle. He added that this image was actually from 2018 and showed an American jet, not a Pakistani jet.
Hi. I wanted to clarify that the account of Ahmad Massoud used in your report is fake. His real account is @AhmadMassoud01. The picture used is not a Pakistani jet in #panjshir, its a US jet in Arizona from 2018. I hope you will correct the report
Proof: https://t.co/zm9wichlXO
— Hamza Azhar Salam (@HamzaAzhrSalam) September 6, 2021
American outlets like ABC and Military.com had published reports carrying the photo in question in April 2018, describing it as a US F16 fighter jet that had crashed in Arizona. However, the pilot had not suffered any major injuries.
The handle which posted the tweet in question has now been deleted. However, some other photos shared by it confirm that this tweet was indeed fake and aired by outlets without verification.
She specializes in information verification, examining mis/disinformation, social media monitoring and platform accountability. Her aim is to make the internet a safer place and enable people to become informed social media users. She has been a part of Alt News since 2018.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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7th September 2021 / 1:34 pm / Last updated: 7th September 2021
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"author": "Priyanka Jha"
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India Today and its botched up 'exclusive' on Jamia police violence - Alt News investigation - Alt News
Jignesh Patel & Priyanka Jha
18th February 2020 / 8:39 pm
On the intervening night of February 15-16, Jamia Coordination Committee released a 44-second CCTV footage of police excess inside a reading room in Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) university. The footage is from December 15, 2019, when policemen with riot gear brutally thrashed unarmed students with lathis. In the course of the fact-check, this footage will be referred to as ‘viral CCTV footage’. It may be noted that a 29-second version of this video was also viral on social media.
Exclusive CCTV Footage of Police Brutality in Old Reading Hall, First floor-M.A/M.Phill Section on
15/12/2019
Shame on you @DelhiPolice @ndtvindia @ttindia @tehseenp @RanaAyyub @Mdzeeshanayyub @ReallySwara @ANI @CNN @ReutersIndia @AltNews @BBCHindi @the_hindu @TheQuint @BDUTT pic.twitter.com/q2Z9Xq7lxv
— Jamia Coordination Committee (@Jamia_JCC) February 15, 2020
Around 5:00 PM on February 16, India Today broadcast an ‘exclusive’ CCTV footage, claiming that it shows moments before the police brutality in the reading room. Anchor Pooja Shali declared this ‘exclusive’ video as “uncut”, “not an edited video” and an “elaborate” clip, as compared to the viral CCTV footage. Shali asked channel correspondent Arvind Ojha: “Please explain us in details, what do we see in the video. Because, the video which was released, shows students, who were sitting and the police starts baton charging on them.”
What happened in #Jamia on December 15? India Today accesses the #exclusive video. @arvindojha’s report.
LIVE https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/qrsTsFuDw3
— India Today (@IndiaToday) February 16, 2020
Ojha responded, “See, let me inform you, the 29-second video, which was made viral, is said to be doctored. Our sources are informing so. But on India Today, we are showing you this first on India Today. The footage from the library which is not only authentic but uncut. This CCTV footage is from December 15 when the violence took place in Jamia. In this, [you] can clearly see that there are some students who were studying in the library. But some boys, who were outsiders with muffled faces are slowly entering the library. One after another several boys enter the library and the biggest point – they have stones in their hands.”
Shali later questioned, “What do we get to know from this. Is it is a video before the lathi-charge or after that? How do these moments come forward?”
“This CCTV footage is exclusive with India Today. We had asked for this from a senior officer with the SIT. Because we were tracking this case continuously,” responded Ojha.
Alt News has already debunked the claim that the student highlighted in India Today’s broadcast was carrying stones in his hands. He was holding a wallet in one of his hands, and a flat object (possibly a phone) in the other. You can read our detailed report here.
Through its ‘exclusive’ report on the Jamia violence, India Today attempted to show that the video of the students barricading the reading room was the precursor to the police lathi-charge in the viral CCTV footage. Was it?
A comparison of the viral CCTV footage and the India Today video shows glaring differences between the number of students seen in both. A large group of students is distinctly noticeable in the video played by India Today. This should have acted as the first clue that this footage cannot be a precursor to the police lathi-charge seen in the viral CCTV footage.
Alt News has analysed both the videos frame-by-frame and found that they are from two different floors of the M. Phil/Post Graduate reading room.
In the course of this article, we will visually investigate the two videos and establish that India Today’s claim about the footage provided by the SIT being the precursor to the viral CCTV footage is false.
With a keyword search on YouTube, we found a video report by The Tribune published on December 20, 2019, post the police violence in Jamia. The channel visited both the floors of the reading room. We reached out to The Tribune and procured the raw footage used in their report. [It may be noted that the student featured in the broadcast mistakenly says, “January 15”. However, as the video was uploaded on December 20, 2019, he could not have been referring to an event that was yet to occur.]
In The Tribune footage posted below, one can spot the channel correspondent moving towards the first floor and entering the M. Phil/Post Graduate section.
Alt News contacted Khushboo Khan, Jamia alumnus and journalist with Muslim Mirror, who also visited both the floors of the reading room. This was on February 17, 2020. In the elaborate video posted below, she explains the clear visual difference between the first and the second floors.
In this section, we will analyse the police lathi-charge inside the first floor of the M. Phil/ Post Graduate reading room.
In the comparison below, we have juxtaposed a screenshot from the viral CCTV footage on the left with a visual from Khan’s video on the right. Two small windows are visible in both the images.
In all the photomontage below, the screenshots on the left are from the viral CCTV footage promoted on social media and by the mainstream media, whereas, the screenshots on the right are from The Tribune footage.
1. The two small windows spotted in Khan’s video are also visible here.
2. Since various rooms in the university can be structured similarly it was important that we find an indisputable visual resemblance – a white paper stuck on a pillar located right in front of a cooler.
3. In the video posted below (taken from The Tribune footage), if one listens to the student’s testimony, he points at a corner and says that most of the students had gathered there to take refuge. We have juxtaposed his testimony with visuals of the viral CCTV footage where one can easily spot students gathering in the same corner on the side of the two small windows.
Through the above visual analysis, it be can be said with certainty that the viral CCTV footage of police brutality is from the first floor of the M.Phil/Post Graduate section.
In the comparison posted below, we have juxtaposed a screengrab from India Today’s broadcast with a visual from Khan’s video. The objects on the wall near the door match in both the clips.
Moreover, we found a photo of this section uploaded on Getty Images shot two days after the violence. This photo shows the broken door of the second-floor room.
In the comparison posted below, we have juxtaposed the Getty Images photo and a screenshot of the frame from The Tribune’s video when the correspondent enters the second floor. As evident, the location is the same.
Below are the similarities in both the images which we have colour-coded.
1. Red arrow – chair
2. Green rectangle – white shoe
3. Yellow circle – a piece of wood
Alt News also accessed the complete raw footage of the second-floor reading room from sources in Jamia. We have juxtaposed a screenshot from the raw footage (after the CCTV camera was vandalised by the police) and another Getty Images photo clicked on December 17, 2019. A piece of wood, a bag placed on the desk, and some papers can be matched in both the images.
Thus, Alt News has visually corroborated with multiple pieces of evidence that India Today broadcast the CCTV footage from the second floor of the M.Phil/Post Graduate section.
It may be noted that a small staircase is visible in the corners of the two floors but it’s locked since the time of violence. The only way in (or out) was the door on each of the floors. This was corroborated by multiple sources from Jamia.
The door on the first floor is intact, whereas the one on the second floor was broken by the police because the students had blocked it with desks and chairs. India Today referred to the viral CCTV footage from the first floor and played a video of students blocking the door of the second-floor room. The broadcast attempted to dilute the police brutality by portraying that miscreants had gathered in the reading room and the police followed them.
Not only did Alt News find that the student highlighted in the broadcast was not carrying stones, but India Today played a clipped video of the entire CCTV footage from the second floor and linked it with the police violence in the first floor.
The channel only showed students blocking the door but not what followed. Here is the sequence of events – the students entered the room, blocked the door, the police broke open the door and subsequently charged the students with lathis, a cop finally damaged the CCTV camera.
Delhi Police beats up Jamia students
In a third video, one which seems to be the continuation of the video released by Delhi Police, police officials are seen entering into the Jamia Millia Islamia Reading Room for PG students on December 15, where students can be seen barricading themselves. What follows is horrific visuals of police beating students, as many of them approach with palms folded. The video shows students piling up against each other, to escape being hit. In the background, a student is seen receiving blows to his head. The video ends with a police official attempting to break the CCTV camera which is recording this video.
The Delhi Police denies having entered Jamia Millia Islamia on December 15.
Credit: Maktoob
#CitizenshipAmendmentAct #jamiauniversity #jamiamilliaislamia #students #attacked #police #delhipolice #video #release #jamiaviolence #jamialibrary #library
Posted by Firstpost on Monday, 17 February 2020
Subsequently, many other news organisations carried the clip and claimed that the footage was of the same room but taken from a different CCTV camera. NDTV, Mirror Now, Republic, Times Now, and News 18 were among the English news channel. Some of the Hindi channels were Zee News, Aaj Tak, Republic Bharat, and News Nation.
Right-wing websites OpIndia and Swarajya too carried similar reports.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th February 2020 / 8:39 pm
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India Today circulates old videos of Kohli, Akshay Kumar as messages on Kathua & Unnao - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
16th April 2018 / 5:20 pm / Last updated: 11th July 2018
On April 14, 2018, news channel India Today reported that Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli has expressed anguish over the Kathua and Unnao rape cases. Breaking this news on the channel, the anchor says, “In a video message, Kohli says the support for rape accused is really shameful. Listen in”. This is followed by a video of the cricketer in which he is purportedly expressing his views on the incident. Aaj Tak, India Today‘s Hindi counterpart, also broadcast this video message of Kohli as his reaction on the Kathua and Unnao incidents. This has also been reported by Times Now and Hindustan Times in their Hindi editions.
This video message has been circulating on Facebook as well. The page Amethi Rae Bareli ki Kahani which has more than 600,000 followers uploaded this video on April 14 with the caption ‘Emotional Virat Kohli raises questions over Kathua rape case, says he is ashamed he is part of such a society’ (translated). This video has been shared more than 4000 times.
“Akshay Kumar’s blood boils over Kathua rape case” (translated). With this caption, a video of the actor is circulating on social media in which he is expressing his anger and anguish over the gruesome incident of the rape and murder of the 8-year old victim in Kathua, Jammu. This video has been shared by News Tak, which is a mobile-friendly spin-off of India Today group, on its Facebook page.
कठुआ रेप केस पर खौला अक्षय कुमार का खून | News Tak
कठुआ रेप केस पर खौला अक्षय कुमार का खून | News Tak
Posted by News Tak on Saturday, April 14, 2018
The above video was uploaded on April 14 and has been viewed almost 20 lakh times. More than 82,000 Facebook users have shared it at the time of writing.
It turns out that these video messages by Virat Kohli and Akshay Kumar are NOT in relation to the incidents of Kathua and Unnao. They are in reference to the incident of molestation that took place in Bengaluru on New Year’s eve on December 31, 2016 which had resulted in outrage. It was in the backdrop of that incident that these videos has been posted by these celebrities, expressing anger and concern over the incident.
NDTV had reported about this video message by Virat Kohli in January 2017.
Similarly, Akshay Kumar’s message of January 2017 had been reported by India TV back then.
Meanwhile, Akshay Kumar had tweeted about the Kathua case on April 12, calling for justice for the Kathua rape victim.
Yet again we’ve failed as a society. Can’t think straight as more chilling details on little Asifa’s case emerge…her innocent face refuses to leave me. Justice must be served, hard and fast! https://t.co/xrW5RVffLe
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 12, 2018
The outrage over the horrific incidents that took place in Kathua and Unnao is understandable, but what is not is the lack of due diligence on the part of the news channel which played old videos of two public figures that had originally been put out in the public domain in a different context. Even a casual perusal of their social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter would have made it amply clear that they haven’t posted any video on this issue.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th April 2018 / 5:20 pm / Last updated: 11th July 2018
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India Today clarifies: Screenshot showing 177 seats for NDA is dummy data - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
16th May 2019 / 8:41 pm
“Did Indiatoday showcase the Exit Poll Numbers by mistake ?? If so, future looks bleak for BJP.” tweeted a user with a screenshot of a India Today broadcast. It was suggested that the channel may have mistakenly displayed the data of their exit polls, which has supposedly predicted 177 seats for the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.
A video of the broadcast was also shared by netizens to back their claims that India Today had reported the exit poll with such figures.
Those who are saying that India Today exit poll is photoshop, here is a video grab. pic.twitter.com/xzjzk030N8
— Avijit Dasgupta/اویجت داس گپتا/অভিজিৎ দাসগুপ্ত (@coolfrnds4u) May 16, 2019
AAP Punjab social media member Akashnoor Gadri also tweeted the screenshot with a message, “This is the real reason that Modi-Shah duo have been running such a divisive campaign. According to @IndiaToday NDA is winning only 177 seats!”.
This is the real reason that Modi-Shah duo have been running such a divisive campaign.
According to @IndiaToday NDA is winning only 177 seats!
Modi Ji Jaane Waale Hain, Ache Din Aane Waale Hain.@bainjal @sardesairajdeep @rohini_sgh @svaradarajan @vinodkapri @sonaliranade pic.twitter.com/QcZOI5hDF7
— Akashnoor Gadri (@AkashGadri) May 16, 2019
India Today has put out a clarification, stating that the data shown in the video was dummy, and only a promo of the exit poll. This was reiterated by India Today anchor Rahul Kanwal in a separate tweet.
We understand your excitement about this clip! Sorry to disappoint you. 🙃 We too are waiting anxiously for the data.This is visibly a promo with dummy data, played on #ElectionNewstrack
For the REAL thing,tune in to India Today & AajTak on May 19, 4pm onwards #AajTakAxisExitPoll pic.twitter.com/SVKVDmZx3t
— India Today (@IndiaToday) May 16, 2019
In the data shown on the screen, NDA is predicted to get 177 seats in 2019, with a negative balance of -177 as compared to 2014. That would suggest that NDA got 354 (177+177) seats in 2014. However, NDA’s actual figure in 2014 was 336. Similarly, the number corresponding to UPA don’t tally either. This shows that the data displayed on screen cannot be real data.
India Today’s promo clip with dummy data was shared by social media with claims suggesting that they had erroneously leaked the exit poll data.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th May 2019 / 8:41 pm
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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India Today deletes article about ‘Amit Shah’s granddaughter refusing to wear BJP hat’ - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
31st March 2019 / 12:09 pm / Last updated: 31st March 2019
A video of Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah sharing candid moments with his granddaughter went viral on social media. To the amusement of social media users, Amit Shah was seen trying to make his granddaughter wear a BJP cap while she kept removing it from her head. Several media outlets including India Today, Lok Satta and ABP Majha reported the incident and posted the video.
“Watch: Amit Shah’s granddaughter not interested in grandfather’s saffron-coloured cap”, tweeted India Today on March 30 at 10:48 AM.The tweet included a hyperlink to the article which was correspondingly titled, “Amit Shah’s granddaughter refuses to wear a BJP hat”. After an hour, India Today tweeted the same video once again with a different headline.
The video elicited a range of reactions on social media. While some had a good laugh at the antics of the child, others went a step further and used it to mock Amit Shah. He was soon a butt of jokes about how he couldn’t even convince his granddaughter to don the BJP cap.
By the evening, India Today’s tweets, the article and the video had gone missing.
While the tweets were deleted, the articles have been replaced with a different video and narrative, which makes no mention of the incident with the granddaughter and instead focuses on Amit Shah’s rally.
In the collage below, a screenshot of an old article is juxtaposed with the updated version of the article. Old article was headlined, “Amit Shah granddaughter refuses to wear BJP hat”, whereas the completely refurbished article was titled, “The crowd in the road show is a clear sign of our victory: Amit Shah”.
India Today’s Aaj Tak also followed suit in removing the story. Interestingly, India Today, in pursuit of deleting all the traces of the story on their platform, has also deleted the corresponding posts from Facebook and Twitter. The video however still exists on their official website.
This is not the first time that an article on Amit Shah has been pulled down. In the past stories on Amit Shah’s assets and Smriti Irani’s ‘Degree’ have vanished from TOI and DNA. Like the previous instances, this time too reason behind the quiet retraction may never be known.
In Jan last year, Nita and Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani’s spirited speech was taken down by multiple media outlets after he was mocked in social media. A story on ‘threat from Modi’s nationalism’ behind India’s poor ranking in press freedom index was deleted by Economic Times and Times of India. A report by Economic Times on the Cobrapost sting operation on a senior Paytm official also disappeared without any explanation. Meanwhile, India’s rank in the Press Freedom Index has been sliding over the years. In 2018, India ranked an abysmal 138 out of 180 countries.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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In a now-deleted article titled “दीप प्रज्ज्वलन के वैज्ञानिक और आध्यात्मिक पक्ष, जानें ये है…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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31st March 2019 / 12:09 pm / Last updated: 31st March 2019
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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India Today falsely claims Indian COVID-19 vaccine prices are the lowest in the world - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
11th March 2021 / 4:54 pm
India Today news director Rahul Kanwal tweeted an infographic created by his channel which claimed that India has the lowest vaccine price in the world. The chart lists prices of vaccines in China, US, EU, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil and India. It claims these are the prices at which the vaccines are available to citizens.
pic.twitter.com/vfXCIFFKja
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) March 2, 2021
Soon after, BJP also claimed quoting media reports that made-in-India COVID vaccines have the lowest prices in the world if any eligible citizen chooses to pay.
Made-in-India COVID vaccines have the lowest prices in the world if any eligible citizen chooses to pay for the inoculation. It’s free at all the government centres.#LargestVaccinationDrive #Vaccine4All pic.twitter.com/aHeqmwJZ3r
— BJP (@BJP4India) March 3, 2021
A similar infographic was shared by BJP Karnataka.
ಯಾವುದೇ ಅರ್ಹ ನಾಗರಿಕರು ಪಾವತಿಸಿ ಲಸಿಕೆ ಪಡೆಯಲು ಇಚ್ಛಿಸಿದರೆ #MadeInIndia ಕೋವಿಡ್ ಲಸಿಕೆಗಳು ವಿಶ್ವದಲ್ಲೇ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಬೆಲೆಗೆ ಲಭ್ಯವಿದೆ. ಲಸಿಕೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಸರ್ಕಾರಿ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಕೇಂದ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಉಚಿತವಾಗಿದೆ.#LargestVaccinationDrive#Vaccine4All pic.twitter.com/9zKpLLaDDu
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) March 4, 2021
India Today’s infographic is based on the prices of different vaccines across the world compiled by UNICEF. However, the data states the cost at which vaccines are being procured by the respective countries NOT the prices at which they are available to citizens, except for India.
India is the only country for which UNICEF lists separate vaccine price for private players and the cost at which the government is procuring them.
India Today wrongly compared the cost of vaccine procurement for other countries with the price at which vaccines are made available to the public in India.
India
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s Guidance document COWIN 2.0 states that vaccination will be provided free of charge at government health facilities and will be on a payment basis in private health facilities, at a rate as may be decided by the Government of India from time to time.
On February 27, the centre announced that private hospitals vaccinating people will be allowed to charge up to Rs 250 per dose. This is the price mentioned in the India Today graphic and does not match the cost of vaccines for Indian private markets in UNICEF’s data. UNICEF refers to SII’s earlier statement that the vaccine will be sold to the government at Rs 219-292 per shot and will be priced at double that rate in the private market. UNICEF has also listed the price of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. The central government had asked Bharat Biotech to supply around 55 lakh doses for Rs 295 per shot.
The government has recently fixed the Rs 250 per dose cap in private facilities and those above 60 and those above 45 with chronic illnesses are eligible for vaccination. The price ceiling and rules will be changed by the government from time to time.
China
The Chinese health ministry website states that the COVID-19 vaccine will be provided free of charge to all Chinese people.
India Today’s graphic implies that citizens in China are procuring vaccines for Rs 2200. However, this is the price at which the Chinese government is procuring the vaccine.
US
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under the US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) states that the vaccines will be provided at no cost.
The website of HHS also states the same – “The vaccine is available at no cost”.
It is also noteworthy India Today has cited the price of Pfizer and BioNTech’s BNT162b2 in the US (Rs 1400 or $19.17 per dose) when AstraZeneca is priced cheaper at Rs 292.10 or $4 per dose.
European Union
The official website of the European Commission states that a large majority of member states are offering the vaccine for free.
Below is the price list of what the EU is paying for different vaccines. The list was published by The Guardian in December 2020.
In the case of the EU too, India Today has considered the cost of Moderna vaccine which is priced the highest at $18 (Rs 1300) when the UNICEF mentions AstraZeneca vaccine’s much lower cost of $2.19.
Russia
The Russian government website shared a news report from January 2021 that states the vaccination drive in the country is free and voluntary.
Saudi Arabia
The website of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health states that the vaccine is free for all citizens and residents.
South Africa
The website of South African Government News Agency quotes Health Department Technical Advisor Dr Qauina Thulare stating that COVID-19 vaccines will be free at the point of service.
Brazil
On December 8, 2020, Reuters reported that the Brazilian President said that the vaccine will be free.
India Today and the BJP falsely claimed that India is providing COVID vaccines for the lowest cost to its citizens. However, in reality, India is the only country in the chart that has not pledged to provide free vaccination. Moreover, India Today wrongly compared the cost of vaccine procurement for other countries with the price at which citizens can get the shot in India.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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11th March 2021 / 4:54 pm
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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India Today falsely reports Shehla Rashid was arrested in 2016 JNU sedition case - Alt News
Archit
4th December 2020 / 2:40 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2020
On December 2, The Indian Express reported that Abdul Rashid Shora, biological father of activist Shehla Rashid, wrote to J&K DGP Dilbag Singh alleging that his daughter took Rs 3 crore from Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali for joining the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement. The report also added that in October, a district court in Srinagar restrained Shora from entering his house following a domestic violence complaint by his family members.
India Today aired a bulletin on the topic on December 1. At the 3:51-minute mark, the following text is prompted on the screen, “Arrested in 2016 JNU sedition case”.
In February 2016, an event was held on Jawaharlal Nehru University campus against the “judicial killing of Afzal Guru and Maqbool Bhat”. This led to a confrontation between the various student groups on campus. Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya were arrested by the police but later awarded regular bail by the Delhi court. The case pertains to the alleged raising of “anti-national” slogans at the protest.
In January 2019, The Hindu reported that Kumar, Khalid and Bhattacharya were charge-sheeted under IPC Sections 124A [sedition], 323 [voluntarily causing hurt], 465 [forgery], 471 [using as genuine, forged document], 143 [punishment for unlawful assembly], 149 [unlawful assembly with common object], 147 [rioting], 120B [criminal conspiracy] by Delhi police. As per the report, the charge sheet consists of other names, including Rashid’s. But due to lack of sufficient evidence against them, these names were jotted down in a separate column in the charge sheet.
Earlier this year, the Delhi government gave permission to prosecute Kanhaiya Kumar in the case.
Rashid is frequently targetted with misinformation on social media. The latest being, India Today falsely stating that she was arrested in the JNU sedition case.
On December 2, Rashid tweeted refuting the channel’s claim. “Dear @IndiaToday I’ve never been arrested. Facts, please! Thank you,” she wrote.
Dear @IndiaToday I've never been arrested. Facts, please! Thank you. pic.twitter.com/LrowjSZAKv
— Shehla Rashid (@Shehla_Rashid) December 2, 2020
Speaking with Alt News, she said, “As a student leader, I have been detained by the police on multiple occasions with other protestors. But to report that I was arrested in the 2016 JNU sedition case is false. I have never been arrested in my life.”
We also spoke with Sarim Naved, a Delhi-based lawyer who represents Rashid. He who said, “I can confirm that she has not been arrested in the JNU sedition case, or for that matter, any other case.”
In October 2016, The Indian Express uploaded a video that shows Rashid and others being detained. Last year, this video was also shared with the false claim that Rashid was arrested. This was debunked by Boomlive.
“The Indian law allows for detention for a reasonable time for the purpose of carrying out an investigation or to ensure that a person does not obstruct the functioning of the law and order machinery. An arrest is when the police decide that a person has to be in custody. The person then has to be produced within 24 hours to the nearest magistrate and it is only the magistrate who can remand the accused either to police custody or to judicial custody, i.e. jail. To put it simply, a person cannot be detained for more than 24 hours. If the idea is to hold somebody for more than 24 hours, the police will have to make an arrest and produce the arrested person before a magistrate,” explained Naved.
India Today, therefore, carried a misreport that Shehla Rashid was arrested in the 2016 JNU sedition case. Since then numerous people, including Rashid, have pointed out that the news is false, yet India Today has neither apologised for the error nor taken down the broadcast.
Alt News has documented multiple instances where India Today has put out misinformation in the past.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th December 2020 / 2:40 pm / Last updated: 5th December 2020
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1,602 |
India Today Group, Times Now air old images of PLA cemetery as graves of Chinese killed in Galwan - Alt News
Pratik Sinha, Pooja Chaudhuri & Mohammed Zubair
1st September 2020 / 6:13 pm / Last updated: 1st September 2020
The deadly face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Galwan valley on June 15 led to the deaths of 20 Indian army men. The casualties suffered on the Chinese side, on the other hand, has been left to much speculation by the Chinese government thus giving rise to misinformation. While rumours have killed anything between five to 100 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers, the official death toll remains a mystery.
On August 31, however, Aaj Tak claimed to have obtained ‘exclusive’ imagery that proves “40 PLA soldiers” were killed in the cross-border skirmish. Anchor Rohit Sardana claimed in an impassionate narration, “We are showing you pictures of the graves of Chinese soldiers. Several people in the country wanted proof of the Chinese soldiers who were killed in Galwan clashes. The proof is on your television screens…more than 40 Chinese soldiers died in clashes with India and you can watch how Chinese soldiers paid respect to their tombs.”
[Translated from: “आज तक एक्सक्लूसिव तस्वीरें. ये आपको दिखा रहा है चीनी सैनिकों की कब्र की तस्वीरें हैं. गलवान में जो झड़प हुई थी उसमें जो चीनी सैनिक मारे गए थे, जिसके लिए देश में भी बहुत सारे लोग खड़े हो गए थे कि सबूत कहां है उसका? उसका सबूत ये सामने टेलीविज़न स्क्रीन पर है…भारत से झड़प में चीन के 40 से ज़्यादा जवान मारे गए थे और उनकी कब्रों पर आप देख सकते है उनको श्रद्धांजली दी जा रही है”]
गलवान में मारे गए चीनी सैनिकों की क़ब्रों की तस्वीरें हैं. जिसको गिनना हो गिन ले. और दोबारा सुबूत माँग कर भारतीय सेना के शौर्य पर सवाल न उठाए. pic.twitter.com/DkcKUVnIP7
— रोहित सरदाना (@sardanarohit) August 31, 2020
Aaj Tak’s English counterpart, India Today, also broadcast similar visuals. The channel showed satellite imagery of the same set of graves with two red arrows pointing at specific area claimed to be “new graves”. Anchor Nabila Jamal claimed, “China soldiers who died in Galwan clash buried at Kangxiwa war memorial. Pictures of that show graves being visited by PLA soldiers…proof of China’s massive Galwan casualties.”
Chinese soldiers, who died in #GalwanValley clash, buried at Kangxiwa war memorial. #IndiaChinaClash #galwanvalleyclash
Chinese soldiers, who died in #GalwanValley clash, buried at Kangxiwa war memorial. #IndiaChinaClash #galwanvalleyclash
Posted by India Today on Sunday, 30 August 2020
Times Now, on the other hand, claimed, “Photos of 106 PLA tombstones reveal [the] extent of Chinese casualties in June 15 Galwan clash.” The channel further wrote in a tweet, “PM Modi was right about Galwan grit, pro-China lobby ‘doubted’ India.”
What ‘sold out China lobby’ buried. Photos of 106 PLA tombstones reveal extent of Chinese casualties in June 15 Galwan clash.
PM Modi was right about Galwan grit, pro-China lobby ‘doubted’ India.
Rahul Shivshankar on INDIA UPFRONT. | Tweet with #IndiaCrushChinaLobby pic.twitter.com/q6ixlnxlDe
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) August 31, 2020
Swarajya penned an article based on Times Now’s reportage.
NewsX and ABP News also broadcast shows where they claimed over 30 graves of Chinese soldiers who died in Galwan clashes were discovered.
These photographs are of the Chinese military cemetery in Kangxiwa town that contains graves of PLA soldiers martyred in the 1962 Indian-Sino war.
While Aaj Tak claimed that 40 PLA soldiers died in the Galwan clashes, India Today did not make a verbal claim on the death toll yet ran images of the cemetery as “proof of massive casualty”. An infographic aired during the show suggested that the cemetery has 105 graves. A defence expert invited on the show, however, said these graves have been present at least since December 2019 and some new graves have recently cropped up.
Alt News found that the Google Earth photo aired by India Today dates back to 2011. As per our calculation as well, there are 105 graves (43 on the left and 62 on the right) in this imagery.
Quite ironically, India Today had used the same map in a report published on August 29 which mentioned that it is from 2011.
We will break down the rest of the fact-check into two sections that separately count the number of graves on the left and right sides of the cemetery.
A photograph of the cemetery which is viral on social media was found using Chinese search engine Baidu. It dates back to 2011 and clearly shows 43 graves on the left side. The last row (marked in red) contains only one grave.
On August 24, the Chinese military had shared a video of their visit to the war memorial on the micro-blogging website Weibo. The same video can also be watched on Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili. Here, the last row on the left has two graves (marked in red). It’s unclear when the new grave was built, however, it was certainly dug up after 2011. Thus bringing up the total number of graves to 44.
Another image of the cemetery circulating on social media gives a clear view of 63 graves on the right. This image is also fairly recent as the last row on the left has two graves (marked in red circle).
If you notice the above image carefully, the last row on the right contains five graves (marked in red line). However, in the latest visuals uploaded by the Chinese military, there is a new grave in this row (marked in green below) bringing up the total number of graves in the last row to six and the total number of graves on the right side of the cemetery to 64.
This means the cemetery has 108 graves. The video uploaded by the Chinese military on August 24 also says that there are 108 graves in the war memorial.
[Tip: Upload images on Google docs or Google translate (phone) to extract texts.]
A document uploaded on the website of the Chinese Defence Ministry in April 2020 had put the total number of martyrs buried in Kangxiwa war memorial at 108. The military face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan reportedly took place in May-June. Thus the imagery aired by Aaj Tak and India Today cannot represent graves of Chinese soldiers martyred in these clashes.
In fact, we found another picture aired by India Today which dates back to at least December 2019. This picture was uploaded on Chinese question and answer website zhihu.com akin to quora.com. The date can be seen at the bottom of the article.
It is noteworthy that one of the widely circulating photographs may be recent but we were unable to confirm the antecedents of this grave.
Dead Chinese soldier’s grave, first evidence of PLA losses in #Galwan
Tombstone says, “Tomb of Chen Xiangro. He was sacrificed in the struggle against India’s border troops in June 2020…”
A report by @saikirankannan#IndiaChinaStandoffhttps://t.co/3hoVYy2qO2 via @indiatoday pic.twitter.com/HeyamcBQ1S
— Geeta Mohan گیتا موہن गीता मोहन (@Geeta_Mohan) August 28, 2020
To sum up the fact-check, India Today used a satellite image from 2011 to report on Chinese casualties in the Galwan clashes. The pictures aired by India Today, Aaj Tak and Times Now show the memorial in Kangxiwa that contains graves of Chinese soldiers who died in the 1962 war with India. Alt News found that at least three new graves were built on the site post-2011. Another picture of a grave that appears to have been recently built is floating online. However, we were unable to confirm the details of this grave.
Journalist Sushant B Sinha tweeted pictures of the Kangxiwa war memorial as graves of Chinese martyrs in the Galwan clashes. “Do not except the ‘give us proof’ brigade to feel any shame,” he wrote.
ये गलवान घाटी में भारतीय शूरवीरों के हाथों मारे गए चीन के सैनिकों की क़ब्रें हैं।मैंडरिन में लिखा है कि जून में भारतीय फौज के साथ झड़प में मारे गए हैं।
वैसे ये उम्मीद मत कीजिएगा कि इससे ‘सबूत मांगो ब्रिगेड’ को कोई शर्म महसूस होगी। उनका एजेंडा चलता रहेगा। बहुत मोटी चमड़ी है उनकी। pic.twitter.com/iiUIRr9MHI
— Sushant Sinha (@SushantBSinha) August 31, 2020
Newly-founded website Kreately published a report claiming more than 100 Chinese soldiers were killed in the clashes. This was shared by BJP leader Kapil Mishra and party supporter Sanjay Dixit. Kreately had earlier promoted the false claim that Chinese dissident Yang Jianli had said that 100 Chinese soldiers died in Galwan skirmish.
Rishi Bagree tweeted “big blow to China and Congress” while claiming “35-106” Chinese soldiers fell in the Galwan clashes based on the same set of images.
Picture of graves of Galwan-Chinese Casualities has emerged on Social Media
Claims Ranging from 35-106 Chinese soldiers were killed by Indian Army Jawans during #galwanvalleyclash
This is a big blow to China & Congress pic.twitter.com/3ecplYSL6L
— Rishi Bagree (@rishibagree) August 31, 2020
[Also read: Rishi Bagree: A relentless purveyor of misinformation]
Other Twitter users that drew hundreds of retweets were @IndoPac_Info and @BefittingFacts.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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1st September 2020 / 6:13 pm / Last updated: 1st September 2020
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"author": "Pratik Sinha, Pooja Chaudhuri & Mohammed Zubair"
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India Today, Tribune fall for fictional story of teacher bullied online, share it as ‘news’ - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
17th July 2020 / 11:57 pm
A ‘story’ about a teacher who was bullied by his students during an online class on a Zoom call was published by India Today, The Tribune and IB Times.
Hindi media outlets Prabhat Khabar and India TV also published similar reports.
The Tribune’s report was tweeted by Cobrapost.
The story is also viral on social media. The tweet below has over 14,000 likes.
Read and please stop abusing your teachers during online class ( I know few people who use videos of Hindustan bhau and abuse the teacher) THIS IS NOT COOL. pic.twitter.com/ODNmlzBQj3
— Meg (@more_megg) July 15, 2020
The story, as it turns out, is fictional. It was shared by Facebook user from Bangladesh Syed Mohammad Fahim on June 30. At the end of his post, Fahim has stated, “I write this fictional story in solidarity to all teachers who are victims of Zoom bombing by shameless students. ”
The story was picked up two weeks later by media outlets after it was shared by the Instagram page tedthestoner on July 16. The page took out the word ‘fictional’ from the story and added a picture of the ‘teacher’. This picture was also used in news reports.
This definitely deserved a share. Read, understand, implement. Trolling ≠ bullying. You can be funny without hurting someone Principal suddenly called the 55 year old teacher and told him to learn how to take class online. He doesn’t have much to say as he knows that if he denies he will be laid off, at this age in this situation he can’t do any other job, to pay for his family he has no choice. Unwillingly he takes his smart phone to his daughter. His daughter helped him to understand the basic of Zoom, his hands often shake to go around the tabs, he often freezes trying to understand how this thing works but he has no choice. The next day he goes to a market to buy a new white board. The price of these small board soared up, but without these how can he take the class? He took the board in a rickshaw and came home. Placed the board in a chair and started practicing the lesson. It was harder than he thought, staring at a camera and teaching but he has no choice. The next day he wore a new shirt, will be seeing his students after one and half month, his daughter helped him to setup the smart phone, and the students were added and the class went on. He was shaky, his voice cracked every now and then he was nervous but he has no choice. Suddenly an unknown ID started using slang at him, the F word, the A word, open threats. He couldn’t understand how should he react, he shouted out of anger and embarrassment, a teacher is being humulated infront of his students. His life work of earning respect from his students seemed to vanish in seconds. His daughter taught him to mute students but the student could unmute himself, the student kept on using slangs and he did it for entertainment. The only thing the teacher could do was to end the class, as he has no choice. He called for his daughter, she came running and saw her father in tears, she held him tightly tried to calm him down but he kept crying as he never faced such humiliation in his life. That he had troubled sleeping that night, as he knew the next day he has to wake up and face the same ordeal as he has no choice. Note:Abusing a teacher doesn’t make you cool, It makes you sick. Credits: Syed Mohamad Fahim/FB
A post shared by Ted The Stoner (@tedthestoner) on Jul 15, 2020 at 10:14pm PDT
A reverse-image search revealed that the photograph of the teacher is a screengrab of a video of an online class held in Bangladesh. A subsequent keyword search on Facebook led us to a post by Bangladesh user Hafiz R Rahman who had shared the video on June 29. In the video, students can be heard conversing in Bengali with a Bangladeshi dialect. They are disrupting the class by mocking the teacher.
Rahman wrote that the teacher’s name is Mohiuddin and the incident occurred while he was taking a class for students of Milestone College, Dhaka. Rahman referred to himself as an ex-student of the college and claimed that he knows the teacher.
In another video, he said that he has informed the college authorities of the incident in hopes that the unruly students would face consequences. He claimed to have shared the details of one of the boys with the college administration. Several people have asked Rahman to take down the teacher’s video however, he says that he will take it down only after the college takes action against the student whose detailed he shared.
অনেকে ব্লেইম দিচ্ছিলো আমি কেন ভিডিও টা আপ্লোডের আগে কলেজ অথরিটিকে জানাইনি।
অনেকে কলেজের নামেও অনেক কিছু বলেছে।
অনেকে ইনবক্সে আপডেট জানতে চাইছেন, এপ্রিশিয়েট করেছেন অনেকে।
আমি ভিডিওটা ডিলেট করতাম যদি কলেজ অথরিটি কোন স্টেপ নিত বা জানাত যে তারা স্টেপ নিবেন। কিন্তু সেরকম কিছু জানানো হয়নি৷
যারা যারা বিভিন্ন গ্রুপে ভিডিও পোষ্ট দিয়েছেন আমি তাদের নিষেধ ও করেছিলাম।
যাহোক,
আমি চাইনি ভিডিও টা ভাইরাল হোক কিন্তু ভাইরাল হবার পরেও যেহেতু স্টেপ নেয়া হচ্ছেনা সেক্ষেত্রে আমার আর কিছু বলার নেই।
আমি ওই ছেলের সমস্ত ইনফরমেশন স্যারদের দিয়েছি। এখন তারা কি করবেন তাদের ব্যাপার।
এরপর যদি কোন ব্যাবস্থা গ্রহন করে তো সেটা পরবর্তীতে জানানো হবে।
ধন্যবাদ 🙂
viral video link :- https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1090390508028833&id=100011736819091
Posted by Hafiz R Rahman on Wednesday, 1 July 2020
A fictional story about a 55-year-old teacher bullied and abused while taking an online class via Zoom was inspired by an actual case that took place in Bangladesh. The person who shared the story clarified that it was fictional. But media outlets did not attempt to locate the original source Syed Mohammad Fahim and cited Instagram page tedthestoner, an account that posts memes and jokes, as the source. It is noteworthy that tedthestoner had named Fahim in its post, yet none of the outlets cross-verified the story. One of the media organisations India Today also has a dedicated fact-checking desk and is recognised by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN).
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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17th July 2020 / 11:57 pm
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India Today uses 2-year old YouTube video to report Pakistani mortar fire - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
23rd January 2018 / 2:02 pm
‘Pak stands exposed’. ‘Pak army fires mortar’. ‘Pak Army targets civilians. Here’s the proof’. These were the titles used by India Today when it reported on the evening of January 22 that Indian civilians in Jammu & Kashmir had been targeted by Pakistani mortar fire along the Line of Control and the International Border.
Pak Army fires mortar, targets Indian civilian. @ashwini1959 brings you more on this.#IndiaFirst
LIVE https://t.co/4fqxBVUizL pic.twitter.com/sYAONVM8SH
— India Today (@IndiaToday) January 22, 2018
Gaurav Sawant , Executive Editor of India Today and the anchor of the prime time programme ‘India First’ which mostly broadcasts on nationalist themes, was on the news. Speaking to the correspondent, Sawant can be heard saying, “Ashwini (reporter) I want to understand from you first the destruction across the international border. Also, the images you have accessed of a Pakistani mortar position inside a village and then Pakistan complains that its civilians have been killed when India responds and retaliates?”
Coward Pakistan targets Indian civilians: Time for another surgical strike?
Watch #IndiaFirst with @gauravcsawant https://t.co/6xsMnBK0QF pic.twitter.com/y8z0TX6hNb
— India Today (@IndiaToday) January 23, 2018
A video of the Pakistani army firing mortar shells plays over Sawant’s voice. According to the location key on the top left corner of the screen, the video was apparently shot at a place named Kotli in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The correspondent can be heard saying, “You can see the Pakistani army; how they are using civilians and they are targeting our civilian areas”.
Alt News was informed by Neelesh Purohit, who pointed out that the video shown by India Today (posted below) is not new and has been available on YouTube for almost two years. The video shows the Pakistani army firing mortars as part of its operation named ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ which was launched against terrorist groups in the North Waziristan region.
As can be seen from the image below, the tweet is dated January 23, 2018. On the other hand, the video, provocatively titled, was uploaded on YouTube on February 29, 2016 and has been viewed over 200,000 times. Even if the video was used by India Today strictly for representational purposes, it should have said so by mentioning ‘archive’ or ‘file’ on the visual screen. However, India Today has used the video as a ‘border ground report’.
Sawant’s ‘nationalist’ zeal had him caught on the wrong foot earlier as well. In May 2017, he tweeted about Indian Army retaliation following cross-border firing by Pakistan. This information had turned out to be fake.
2 Pak posts that gave cover fire to Pak BAT razed to ground, army sources tell me & this is not even the beginning of India’s real response https://t.co/qBB2Cf6Bf0
— GAURAV C SAWANT (@gauravcsawant) May 1, 2017
Television news channels have on occasion reported news about cross-border tension without due verification, putting out false or misleading information. The tone of the coverage is mostly jingoistic. In this instance, an old video was used to show mortar firing by the Pakistani army. There is no denying that cross-border shelling is resorted to by the Pakistani army on Indian civilian positions. However, misleading viewers by passing off an old and widely circulated video as a ‘Border Ground Report’ serves little purpose except to make the Indian media a laughing stock for Pakistan.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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23rd January 2018 / 2:02 pm
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"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
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1,605 |
India Today’s Aaj Tak runs a fatwa as news that was declared fake by India Today’s DailyO 18 months ago - Alt News
Alt News Desk
13th April 2017 / 6:57 pm
While we outrage about fake fatwas popularised by Sanghi websites, like the one against Rohit Sardana that never happened, how are our mainstream news websites any different? The most recent example is that of India Today’s Hindi news channel Aaj Tak. On 10th April 2017, Aaj Tak repeatedly posted a news on its official Facebook page. It was about a ‘recently’ issued ‘fatwa’ in Saudi Arabia stating “men can eat their wives if they are hungry.” This news was posted repeatedly with different pictures.
The reality is that it is neither ‘recent’ nor is it ‘News’. News is a piece of information which is supposed to be ‘current’ and ‘factual’. On the contrary, this is a one and a half-year-old rumour which was quashed as fake when it first came up and became viral. Ironically, India Today’s website ‘DailyO’ itself reported it to be fake back then on 29th October 2015. It was clearly reported on the DailO website that it was a fake fatwa which was going viral on social media. DailyO also stated that the ‘news’ first appeared in a sarcastic column written by a satirst Moroccan blogger called ‘Israfel al-Maghribi’.
So, why is Aaj Tak running a one and a half-year-old fake rumour as ‘current news’? Is the intent to accumulate ‘likes’ on its Facebook page by publishing click-bait articles which tap into a certain anti-Muslim sentiment that pervades in their potential audience? Is Aaj Tak is trying to outrun the various teensy Whatsapp groups spreading communal hatred? This business of hatred in the name of journalism is not new, but the low it has reached in recent times, is not to be found in history.
Follow @free_thinker
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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13th April 2017 / 6:57 pm
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"author": "Alt News Desk"
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1,606 |
India TV broadcasts fake image of PM Modi sweeping the floor - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri & Smit Bhatt
25th January 2019 / 5:49 pm / Last updated: 25th January 2019
On January 23, India TV ran a show – ‘Unheard stories of PM Narendra Modi’ – where the channel broadcasted an over 20-minute special on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life, starting with his childhood days. At 4:10 minutes India TV flashed an image where the PM could be seen sweeping the floor.
Using phrases of fawning, the anchor attempted to narrate the story of a boy whose life was full of struggles. He described young PM Modi as a “hero in the making.”
India TV, however, used a photograph of the PM that wasn’t his at all.
One of the photographs used by India TV to showcase the prime minister’s struggles was a morphed image. The image where PM Modi can be seen sweeping the floor was viral on the internet since the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. However, an RTI petition filed in 2016 revealed that the photograph was fake.
According to Janta ka Reporter, the RTI reply said, “…It is stated while the information sought does not form part of records, it may be noted that the said photograph is morphed and the person in the photo is not Mr Narendra Modi.”
The image used by India TV was, therefore a photoshopped image that has been debunked three years ago and the same was reported across mainstream media outlets. This isn’t an isolated incident of India TV using incorrect information in its broadcast. Last year, the channel had incorrectly claimed that Pakistani posts of Kirpan and Pimpal were destroyed by the Indian army in an immediate retaliation to the beheading of soldiers. As it turned out, Kirpan was actually an Indian post and the army itself confirmed there was no reaction.
Update: India TV deleted its broadcast from its English website and YouTube channel after Alt News’s story. However, it can still be accessed on its Hindi website.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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25th January 2019 / 5:49 pm / Last updated: 25th January 2019
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri & Smit Bhatt"
}
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1,607 |
India TV graphic plate morphed to attribute fake quotes to PM Modi ahead of UP polls - Alt News
Kalim Ahmed
5th February 2022 / 3:05 pm
A screengrab of an alleged India TV News graphic plate airing two quotes attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is viral on social media.
The first quote reads, “I used to ask for lassi from the house of Jats.” (मैं जाटों के घर से लस्सी मांग कर लाता था). The second quote is visible at the bottom of the screen and it reads, “I have lived 20 years in Jatland.” (में 20 वर्ष जाटलैंड में रहा हूँ)
The screengrab is viral on Twitter with various captions and has been shared by Shesh Narayan Ojha, National Secretary of Indian Youth Congress.
जाटों ने “छटी का दूध याद दिला दिया” तो जाटों की लस्सी भी याद आ गयी ।#झूठा_मोदी pic.twitter.com/PrSiZvj78i
— Shesh Narayan Ojha (@sheshnojha) February 1, 2022
It was also tweeted by Comedian Rajeev Nigam and retired IPS officer Vijay Shanker Singh.
अब इसके बाद और क्या सुनना बांकी रह गया.. Pls लस्सी का क़र्ज़ अदा करिये pic.twitter.com/gSg7c2kQFO
— Rajeev Nigam (@apnarajeevnigam) January 31, 2022
जाटों के घर से लस्सी मांग कर लाते थे मोदी जी।
फिर भी 700 किसान एक साल से अधिक चले धरने में शहीद हो गए, पर एक फोन कॉल की दूरी पर वे खड़े खड़े, अड़े अड़े, कील ठुंकि सड़कों पर बैठे लाखों किसान देखते रहे।
अब लस्सी पी लिए हों तो जो वादे किसानों से किये हैं सरकार, उसे भी मान लें। pic.twitter.com/u1YDFZTE8S
— Vijay Shanker Singh IPS Rtd (@vssnathupur) February 1, 2022
The alleged screengrab was also referred by RJD leader Jayant Chaudhary in one of his speeches.
मोदी जी जाटों से लस्सी माँग पिया करते थे..
अबके वो भी ना देंगे .. अबकि बार मिलेगा 🍆 pic.twitter.com/5IcXIVa7dA
— Vijay Malik (@VijaySmalik) February 1, 2022
The screengrab is being shared ahead of UP assembly elections scheduled from February 10. The first phase is the most crucial phase of this election as 58 seats, in what is widely known as the ‘Jat belt’, will go to the polls on that day.
We had a close look at the image and noticed a text just above PM Modi’s photo. It reads “दिल्ली कैंट से Live” (Live from Delhi Cantt). Taking it as a clue, we performed a keyword search on Google and came across a news report by The Hindu where PM Modi can be seen in the same attire as the one in the viral clip.
According to the report, the PM was addressing the annual PM’s National Cadet Corps (NCC) rally at the Delhi Cantonment on Friday, January 28.
We found a video of the event on YouTube that was live-streamed on the official channel of the Prime Minister. The PM addresses the event at 1:01:36 minutes and his speech lasts for 26 minutes approximately. We played the full speech and at no point did he utter either of the quotes that are visible in the viral image.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4by8qbGaQM?start=3696]
We also looked at the video of the speech available on the India TV News’s YouTube channel. Chronologically, the quote at the bottom (“I have lived 20 years in Jatland”) should appear first on-screen followed by the quote in the yellow background (“I used to ask for lassi from the house of Jats.”) but both of these quotes do not appear during the broadcast at any point. When we compared the viral image with the genuine graphic plate that appears during the broadcast (timestamp: 2:45 minutes), we noticed that the fonts don’t match. The font in the viral image is completely different from the font in the actual broadcast.
Hence, a morphed India TV News screengrab was made viral on social media to attribute false quotes to PM Modi.
Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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5th February 2022 / 3:05 pm
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"author": "Kalim Ahmed"
}
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India TV uses 2017 video to falsely claim Islamic preacher provoked Jamaatis to 'spit' - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
16th April 2020 / 9:02 pm / Last updated: 18th April 2020
The narrative around coronavirus pandemic has taken a turn for the worse in India with a majority of social media users and mainstream media outlets not only pinning the blame on the Muslim community but also accusing it of intentionally spreading the infection. Since Nizamuddin Markaz was identified as a COVID-19 hotspot, Alt News has been inundated with random ‘spitting’ and ‘sneezing’ videos shared with a false Muslim angle.
In an April 11 broadcast, India TV praised the government for working “24×7” to fight the virus outbreak. However, the channel claimed that the efforts are being derailed because of the weakest link i.e., Tablighi Jamaat. “There is another big accusation against the Jamaat – of spitting. Where did they catch the disease of spitting? Which Mulana gave them the symptoms of the virus, India TV has investigated,” said the anchor during the show.
The channel subsequently played a video of an Islamic preacher saying – “To save yourself from the clutches of demons, read the Surah Al-Ikhlas and spit thrice on the left-hand side” – and paused before he was finished. The music playing in the background would put even directors of Hindi soap operas to shame. “If you do not believe what you saw and heard, watch again and hear with your ears wide open so that no confusion is left.” The video is played for a second time and the anchor goes on the ask questions that would sound ridiculous to the sane mind – “Why do Jamaatis spit?” He further says that there have been reports of Jamaatis spitting on doctors and nurses in isolation wards. The anchor introduces the preacher as Faiz Syed and asks, “Does religion teaches to spit on doctors and nurses?”
Throughout the show, the channel attempt to blame a certain ‘maulana’ for the spread of coronavirus. Below is one example of the many obnoxious questions flashed by India TV – “Which maulana’s brainchild is Jamaat’s coronavirus symptoms?”
The video played by India TV is three years old. It was shared by the YouTube channel IRC TV on October 25, 2017. Faiz Syed is an Islamic preacher and the founder of Islamic Research Centre (IRC).
The video is titled, “Agar Kisi Ko Allah Ki Zaat Par Waswasa – Whispers Aaye To Kya Kare By Adv. Faiz Syed”. This translates to – “What should one do when they get whispers (evil or negative thoughts) about the existence of Allah.”
In his speech, Faiz Syed first quotes a hadith (sayings of Prophet Mohammad) and advises on what to do if their minds are riddled with evil thoughts on the existence of Allah. He asks people to recite from the Surah Al-Ikhlas (112th chapter of the Quran) – “He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, nor is there to Him any equivalent” – and spit three times on the left-hand side.
Syed then refers to another hadith which talks about warding off evil thoughts (Shaitan) during prayers. The book ‘Waswasah: The Whispering of the Shaitan’ says that the Prophet was once asked by his companion: “O Messenger of Allah, Satan intervenes between me and my prayer and he confounds me,” to which the Prophet replied, “That is the doing of the Satan who is known as khinzab; when you perceive its effect, seek refuge with Allah from it, and spit three times to your left.”
Alt News spoke with an Islamic scholar who explained that the ‘spitting’ is not literal ejection of saliva but a gesture. “When evil thoughts come to one’s mind during prayers or meditation, they recite the Surah Al-Ikhlas and make a gesture of spitting on the left side – either say thoo thrice or spit out air. This is a psychological way of believing that after taking Allah’s name, the act of ‘spitting’ ejects the Shaitan out of the body.”
Therefore, Syed quoted hadith and portions from the Quran in his speech to give advice on how to rid one’s mind of negative thoughts that may either cause one to question Allah’s origin or obstruct one from remembering God. At no point in his speech did he ask people to spit on others.
India TV dug up a three-year-old video of the Islamic preacher and falsely claimed that he was advocating the spread of coronavirus by spitting. The channel did not inform its users that a day before its broadcast was aired, Syed had uploaded another video where he is saying that intentional spitting to spread the virus is a sin. He also advises people to follow government guidelines and maintain social distancing.
Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi was identified as a coronavirus hotspot on March 31. Soon after, reports came pouring in that members of Tablighi Jamaat are spitting and misbehaving with medical workers in quarantine wards. Several reports also claimed that they defecated in the open after being refused non-vegetarian food. Despite no visual evidence and the claims debunked by local authorities, channels have continually been promoting the anti-Muslim narrative. Belgavi Commission of Police clarified that no person quarantined in the district facility has either spat or misbehaved with health workers. AIIMS Raipur also tweeted that rumours about a patient form Tablighi Jamaat spitting on doctors are untrue. Saharanpur police took to Twitter to call-out false reports by Amar Ujala and Patrika that Markaz attendees defecated in the open.
Alt News has also been debunking several old and unrelated videos widely shared on social media to claim that members of the Muslim community have been intentionally spitting to spread the virus. However, mainstream media has now emerged as the main promoter of this dangerous piece of misinformation. The visibly hateful broadcasts and reports have manifested into common people hounding and assaulting Muslim vendors on the road. There have also been calls to boycott the community and not purchase any items from their shops.
[Update: India TV deleted its broadcast after this fact-check was published. A link of the downloaded broadcast has been added.]
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th April 2020 / 9:02 pm / Last updated: 18th April 2020
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India TV’s Rajat Sharma falsely claims 190 countries pre-book India-made Covaxin - Alt News
Sam Jawed & Pooja Chaudhuri
4th January 2021 / 8:45 pm
Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of India TV Rajat Sharma tweeted on January 3 that 190 countries have pre-booked COVID-19 vaccine developed by India. “The vaccine produced in our country is effective, cheap and easy to store. This is because of Narendra Modi’s policies and the skills of our scientists. Those who are suspicious about the vaccine should know that 190 countries have booked the vaccine in advance,” read his tweet, drawing over 30,000 likes as of this writing.
अपने देश में बनी वैक्सीन कारगर है, सस्ती है और इसे स्टोर करना आसान है. ये नरेंद्र मोदी की नीति और हमारे वैज्ञानिकों की कुशलता का प्रतीक है. इस पर बेवजह शक करने वाले जान लें कि इस वैक्सीन की एडवाँस बुकिंग 190 देशों ने करवाई है. @narendramodi
— Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) January 3, 2021
In another tweet, Sharma wrote that he is referring to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
भारत में बनी कोवौक्सीन की जो लोग आलोचना कर रहे हैं, उन्हें मालूम होना चाहिए कि 190 देशों की सरकारों के कंसोर्शियम ने इस वैक्सीन की 2 अरब डोज़ की बुकिंग करवाई है. लोग गलतफहमियों के शिकार न हों, तथ्यों पर यकीन करें. #Covaxin
— Rajat Sharma (@RajatSharmaLive) January 4, 2021
The DCGI recently approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield) manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) for restricted use in the country. Several independent scientists have questioned Covaxin’s approval for emergency use when efficacy data from its Phase 3 trials are yet to come in. Alt News Science Editor Dr Sumaiya Shaikh also made a tweet thread analysing the efficacy of Phase I and II of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
My analysis of the paper released by #BharatBiotech researchers & the Press Statement by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Restricted Emergency approval of 1out of 3 COVID-19 virus vaccine from Bharat Biotech: A thread…
— Dr Sumaiya Shaikh (@Neurophysik) January 3, 2021
BJP member Manish Kumar Pandey tweeted the same as Rajat Sharma.
हमें गर्व है 🇮🇳
“अपने देश में बनी वैक्सीन कारगर है, सस्ती है और इसे स्टोर करना आसान है. ये नरेंद्र मोदी की नीति और हमारे वैज्ञानिकों की कुशलता का प्रतीक है. इस पर बेवजह शक करने वाले जान लें कि इस वैक्सीन की एडवाँस बुकिंग 190 देशों ने करवाई है”- @narendramodi
— Manish Kumar Pandey (@KrpandeyKumar) January 3, 2021
That 190 countries have pre-booked Bharat Biotech vaccine was also claimed by several individual users.
190 countries have pre-booked Bharat Biotech vaccine but according to “Scientist” Bhushan it is not safe for long term effects. https://t.co/HpiDPlHLUV
— Monica (@TrulyMonica) January 3, 2021
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is the only indigenous vaccine developed by India in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.
In a statement on January 3, Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr Krishna Ella said that it is the company’s “goal” to provide the vaccine globally. Foreign envoys of 70 countries had visited manufacturing units of the company on December 9 but the visit did not follow any news of orders or pre-booking.
In all likelihood, the number ‘190’ comes from the World Health Organisation (WHO)-led global initiative COVAX. On December 18, 2020, the WHO informed that “COVAX, the global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level” announced that it had arrangements in place to access “nearly two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidates, on behalf of 190 participating economies“.
The news was also reported in the media.
All participating economies will have access to doses in the first half of 2021, said the WHO.
Unlike Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute of India is a COVAX partner. The full list of deals secured by the WHO global alliance features SII’s vaccine Oxford-AstraZeneca (or Covishield in India). The WHO has acquired a deal for 200 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Novavax candidates via an agreement between Gavi, SII and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. SII is therefore producing the vaccine developed by Oxford and its pharmaceutical partner AstraZeneca. Covishield is not an Indian vaccine.
Furthermore, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has invested in 10 vaccine candidates of which Oxford-AstraZeneca is a part and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is not.
Since India-made Covaxin does not feature on both the lists, there cannot be any deals between COVAX with Bharat Biotech for the 190 participating countries. Moreover, while SII had issued a press release about COVAX, the word does not appear anywhere on the website of Bharat Biotech.
It is noteworthy that Head of Serum Institute of India Adar Poonawalla stated that India will not allow the export of Covishield for several months.
It appears that India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma failed to differentiate between COVAX, a global alliance of 190 countries for procurement of vaccines, and Covaxin, a vaccine by India’s Bharat Biotech. There is no doubt that India will play a major role in global COVID vaccine rollout as the country has vaccine production facilities and a large percentage of the world’s vaccines are already produced in India. However, it is wrong to claim that 190 out of 195 countries in the world have already placed orders for the indigenously developed Covaxin.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th January 2021 / 8:45 pm
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"author": "Sam Jawed & Pooja Chaudhuri"
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1,610 |
Indian army men collapse during endurance training, video viral with anti-vax claim - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
27th August 2021 / 5:17 pm / Last updated: 31st August 2021
A video of army personnel attending to soldiers who seem to have collapsed has been widely shared on social networking platforms. It has been claimed that the soldiers collapsed due to taking the COVID-19 vaccine.
देश के फौजियों ने वैक्सीन लगवाई ओर जब वो दौड़ रहे थे तो बहुत लोग बेहोश हो गए हैं
और कइयों को भयंकर बीमारी दिल का दौरा पड़ा
अब बताओ वैक्सीन सही है ? pic.twitter.com/PKYjsrSvhy
— sc st obc एकता मंच (@Gautam71210943) August 27, 2021
The video is circulating on Facebook and Alt News has also received verification requests on WhatsApp and the official Alt News mobile application.
An army man could be spotted wearing a t-shirt that said ‘XV’ which stands for XV Corps or Chinar Corps of the Indian Army located in Srinagar which is responsible for military operations in Kashmir Valley.
A reverse-image search of the video’s keyframes with the keyword ‘Kashmir army collapse’ took us to the same video uploaded by Instagram page Defence Squad on August 21. “In an organised & supervised training activity near Pathankot, due to severe weather conditions, there has been one fatal casualty & few individuals admitted in MH Pathankot,” read the description.
A post shared by Defence Squad™ | YouTube (@defencesquad)
The page has carried the statement of the Indian army on the training during the 9 Corps Recce Troop Competition.
Army statement on 9 Corps Recce Troop Competition:
In an organised, supervised and monitored training activity near Pathankot, due to severe weather conditions, there has been one fatal casualty & few individuals admitted in MH Pathankot. Requisite medical care being provided. pic.twitter.com/f8dliitjoB
— Man Aman Singh Chhina (@manaman_chhina) August 21, 2021
The video was similarly reported by Editorji. It said that an army man passed away and a few others collapsed due to the heat during training near Pathankot.
The incident was also reported by English media. “A soldier died and four others had to be hospitalised after nearly three dozen soldiers collapsed due to heat and exhaustion during an endurance run conducted at Mamun military station near Pathankot on Saturday,” reported The Indian Express adding, “It was learnt that the endurance competition was already going on for 72 hours and a 10-km leg with full load and weapon was undertaken at a relatively late hour — around 9 am — when the weather was not conducive.”
The video has therefore been shared with a false anti-vaccine narrative.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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27th August 2021 / 5:17 pm / Last updated: 31st August 2021
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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'Muslim' regiment that never existed in Indian army blamed for refusing to fight in 1965 war - Alt News
Kinjal
10th October 2020 / 8:16 pm / Last updated: 10th October 2020
Social media has been brimming with claims that the Muslim regiment of the Indian Army had refused to fight in India’s 1965 war with Pakistan. Several users have been using the viral message to question the ‘loyalty’ of Muslim candidates to be appointed to the posts of IAS and IPS officers. Twitter user @FansYati shared this message on September 15. His tweet had been liked 2,400 times and received 998 retweets at the time of writing. (archived link to the tweet)
मुस्लिम रेजिमेंट जिसने भारत पाक युद्ध के समय लडने से मना कर दिया था.
क्या आपको लगता है ये IAS/IPS बनकर देश सेवा कर सकते हैं ???
— विराथू यति नरसिंहानन्द सरस्वती जी महाराज समर्थक 🔃 (@FansYati) September 15, 2020
Another Twitter user @DK_Dube also posted the same tweet.
The claim has gone viral on both Twitter and Facebook and is also being circulated in the form of a video. It was also the subject of a tweet by BJP’s national media panellist Yasshveer Raghav in October 2017. Alt News noticed that this claim has been doing the rounds online since 2017.
कम लोगों को ही पता है कि 65 के युद्ध मे मुस्लिम रेजिमेंट ने पाक से युध्द लड़ने से मना कर दिया था
जिसके बाद मुस्लिम रेजिमेंट समाप्त कर दी गई
— Yasshveer Raghav (@iyashveerraghav) October 26, 2017
After performing a keyword search, we found a list of all the regiments of the Indian Army in an ABP News report from June 22, 2020. There is no Muslim regiment on the list. Apart from this, we also came across a list of the Indian Army’s caste-based regiments in an article by Jagran Josh dated July 15, 2020. There is no mention of a Muslim regiment here either.
A Times of India report dated November 30, 2017 also states that there was never a Muslim regiment in the Indian Army. This report was penned by Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain.
BBC News Hindi recently published a fact-check report on the viral claim. Major General (Retd.) Shashi Asthana was quoted as saying, “There was never any regiment in the army known as the Muslim Regiment. These regiments were either formed in the British period based on race and ethnicity or these were groups which functioned as a princely army, such as the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment. This regiment was an army of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir.”
Lieutenant General (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain was also quoted in the report. He said, “This is propaganda and the Indian Army has never had a Muslim regiment for the last 200 years. Apart from regiments like the Sikh, Punjab, and Garhwal in the British Indian Army, there were also the Baloch and Frontier Force regiments. After the partition, the Baloch and Frontier regiments moved to Pakistan and the Punjab regiment exists in both Pakistan and India.”
The BBC’s piece discusses the 1965 war against Pakistan mentioned in the viral claim — “The 1965 India-Pakistan war which was cited in the fake claims of the Muslim regiment putting down their weapons is in fact the same battle where Quartermaster general Abdul Hamid destroyed more than four Pakistani tanks and was posthumously awarded the Paramvir Chakra, the country’s top military award.”
A Muslim regiment in the Indian Army has therefore never existed. Regiments with caste-based names came into existence long ago and their names have not been changed after Independence. However, this does not mean that only Jats are recruited in the Jat regiment and Rajputs in the Rajput regiment. People of all castes and religions are included in all regiments. The religion or caste of these soldiers has nothing to do with their regiment.
Alt News also reached out to Major Navdeep. “There was never a Muslim regiment in the Indian Army. The Indian Army is an apolitical, secular institution where all the soldiers live and fight together under a shared national flag,” he said.
The first part of the viral message makes the false claim about the ‘Muslim’ regiment allegedly laying down their arms. The second part moves away from the army and to the IAS/IPS posts. Recently, right-wing media outlet Sudarshan News launched a television series to falsely portray how people belonging to the Muslim community want to occupy Indian government posts in large numbers and carry out ‘UPSC jihad’. After the first episode was aired, Alt News published a fact-check report on the misleading narratives used by the channel bolstered by misinformation, false claims, and communalism.
The Supreme Court halted the broadcast of the series after the fourth episode was aired and the matter is still being heard in the top court.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th October 2020 / 8:16 pm / Last updated: 10th October 2020
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Indian army refutes PTI-led media reports of "pinpoint strikes" in PoK - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
19th November 2020 / 11:17 pm / Last updated: 19th November 2020
A report by Press Trust of India (PTI) made headlines in the evening of November 19. It claimed that the Indian army is carrying out “pinpoint strikes on terror launchpads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).”
“The Indian Army is carrying out “pinpoint strikes” on suspected terror launchpads inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to Pakistani military’s unrelenting efforts to push maximum number of terrorists into India before the onset of harsh winters, sources in the security establishment,” read the report republished by India Today.
One of the earliest to attribute the story to PTI was journalist Prashant Kumar.
BIG BREAKING: India carrying out ‘pinpoint strikes’ on terror launchpads inside PoK, PTI reports quoting Govt sources
— Prashant Kumar (@scribe_prashant) November 19, 2020
It was carried by nearly every mainstream media outlet including The Times of India, Times Now, Deccan Herald, Business Standard, ABP News, TV9 Gujarati, OneIndia, India TV and Firstpost.
Among the mainstream Hindi media outlets was Aaj Tak that later took down its broadcast.
Other news organisations that carried the story were Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar and Dainik Jagran.
Journalists Rubika Liyaquat, Anjana Om Kashyap and Deepak Chaurasia also tweeted that India carried out “pinpoint strikes” in PoK.
The Indian Army clarified that there has been no firing across LOC today.
There has been no firing across the LOC today, clarifies Indian Army pic.twitter.com/isiS5ayIxe
— ANI (@ANI) November 19, 2020
“The PTI story going around is based on analysis of the Ceasefire Violations (CFV) that took place on Nov 13,” the clarification further said.
Clarification: Army has clarified that The PTI story going around is based on analysis of the Ceasefire Violations (CFV) that took place on Nov 13. There has been NO firing or CFV in #LoC today, says Army
— Dinakar Peri (@dperi84) November 19, 2020
Soon after several journalists also tweeted that the news was incorrect including India Today anchor Shiv Aroor.
No Indian Army action across the LoC in PoK today. Not so far, at least.
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) November 19, 2020
Anjana Om Kashyap who had tweeted the misinformation also put out a clarification later.
सेना ने PoK में आज किसी भी तरह की सैन्य स्ट्राइक का खंडन किया है।
— Anjana Om Kashyap (@anjanaomkashyap) November 19, 2020
A story that purportedly quoted “government sources” that the Indian army carried out “pinpoint strikes’ in PoK was refuted by the Army itself. Several media outlets have now taken down their erroneous reports or updated the articles.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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19th November 2020 / 11:17 pm / Last updated: 19th November 2020
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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Indian Embassy in Oman appeals to companies to send workers for PM Modi’s Mega event - Alt News
Alt News Desk
10th February 2018 / 10:35 pm
One of the highlights of Prime Minister Modi three-nation trip to Palestine, Oman and UAE will be an address to the Indian expatriates in Oman. The mega community program organized by the Indian Embassy at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex is expected to draw a massive crowd. Indian media headlines have already informed us that “PM Narendra Modi to address record crowd of NRIs in Muscat on February 11.”
With Indians making up almost 20 percent of Oman’s population, one wouldn’t expect the attendance to such an event to be a problem. But it looks like the Indian Embassy is taking no chances. Apart from open online registration for the event via its website, the Embassy has issued appeals to large companies employing Indians to “spare their employees” for half a day to participate in the event.
In a letter addressed to companies employing a large Indian workforce, the Indian Embassy has specified the number of people they expect the company to send. This is not all. There is a further request that 80 percent of the number must be blue-collared workers. Optics are important and it seems that the audience composition has been carefully planned.
Companies have also been requested to arrange group transport for their workers to attend the event. How else would the blue-collared workers make it to the venue? Arrangements have been made to bring them in by bus loads. They get half a day off and the Embassy gets a captive audience to listen to the Prime Minister. It’s a win-win for all.
“The Embassy of India in Muscat has always been rendering full cooperation to your company and I request and hope to receive your full cooperation in arranging participation of your employees in the above Community Event” reads the letter from the Indian Ambassador in Oman. We are sure this little nudge for “cooperation” will go a long way in ensuring that a record crowd turns up to listen to the Prime Minister.
Alt News was sent a copy of the letter by the employee of a company in Oman. Alt News verified the contents with other Muscat based Indians who confirmed that their companies also got similar letters.
Additionally Indian schools in Muscat have made arrangements to transport students from grade 6-12 to the event.
Messages were also sent to parents over WhatsApp informing them about the said event.
The stadium can seat 34,000 people and looking at these event management efforts of the Embassy, we will be surprised at anything less than a full-house.
Follow @free_thinker
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th February 2018 / 10:35 pm
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"author": "Alt News Desk"
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Indian employed in UAE fired for sexually abusive post against Rana Ayyub, Bravo! What about others? - Alt News
Pratik Sinha
10th April 2017 / 11:00 pm / Last updated: 11th April 2017
Sexually offensive messages on social media in the hope to silence opposition is a commonly used modus-operandi by many right-wingers in India, especially against women. Yet, there have been very few instances of action taken against such people who should ideally be prosecuted and put behind bars under various laws for sexual harassment. Moreover, there are many documented cases where people whom PM Modi personally follows on Twitter have been guilty of using sexually explicit language against others. Yet, barring 1-2 instances, none of these offenders whom PM Modi follows have ever been unfollowed. However, a precedent has now been set in UAE where an employer has fired an Indian citizen for using sexually abusive language in a personal message that he had sent to Rana Ayyub’s page on Facebook.
As reported by Gulf News, a man called Bincylal Balachandran has been fired by his employee Alpha Paints for sending the filthy message shown in the screenshot above.
Gulf News reports:
The 31-year-old employee identified as Bincylal Balachandran, from Kerala, joined Alpha Paint in Dubai, a sister company of National Paints in Sharjah, in 2015. He worked as a customer service employee. Balachandran sent an abusive message with sexual overtones to the Indian journalist on Facebook messenger.
Ayyub posted a screenshot of the message on April 6 saying: “Just a sample of the filth I receive on my Facebook page. Time to name and shame this pervert.”
Balachandran’s action angered social media users who took the issue to the company management on April 7.
Shadi Al Refai, human resource manager of the company, told Gulf News that they received the complaint by email on April 7 from a man saying that one of the staff members abused a woman on social media. The email included a copy of the abusive message sent by the Balachandran. “We verified the accuracy of the information and checked on the name of the man. On April 8, at 8 am the termination order of Balachandran issued,” Al Refai said.
While this is a good precedent, will Indian employers also act similarly against their employees who use abusive language on social media against women? At this point of time, it is doubtful considering how many abusive people PM Narendra Modi himself follows on Twitter. At the time of writing, PM Modi personally follows 1698 people on Twitter. A fair few of them are equally abusive and yet are never reprimanded and in fact in some cases even supported by ministers. Here’s a short list of such people, each of which is followed by PM Modi on Twitter.
Union Minister Giriraj SIngh trended a hashtag in support of the above guy and so did many who are from the BJP IT cell or vehemently support PM Modi and BJP on social media.
The screenshot above is a heinous message which is targeting Barkha Dutta and the user proudly declared that he’s tagging her, while the message below is against Aaj Tak anchor Anjana Om Kashyap. What is the common factor? Followed by PM Modi on Twitter.
Some of these people had also been invited to meet the Prime Minister in the PMO. While the post above is by a guy called Suresh Nakhua, the screenshot below is from a person who now is the Delhi BJP Spokesperson. He says “MMS” as in Manmahon Singh “ki betiya” hai, badi “MC” hai. We all know what MC means.
And here’s a man who called the Vice President of India, Hamid Ansari, an “a**hole” and a “b*stard”, and that is because of his pure ignorance of the Indian Flag code that a Vice President is not supposed to salute when the President is present. He gets to meet PM Modi in his PMO.
This is a partial list of the ‘esteemed’ people that PM Modi follows on Twitter. If the highest elected official of this country who talks about “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” does nothing about the several abusive people he follows on Twitter, then how do we expect others to act against abusive people on social media?
Co-Founder Alt News, I can be reached via E-mail at [email protected] and on Facebook at https://fb.com/freethinker.
Follow @free_thinker
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th April 2017 / 11:00 pm / Last updated: 11th April 2017
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Indian High Commission in Kenya tweets photoshopped images of Indians doing Yoga; apologises - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
18th June 2018 / 10:39 pm / Last updated: 9th July 2018
“At the most sacred spot in Kenya: the Indian community of Nyeri celebrated the 4th #IYD2018 at the foot of #MtKenya yesterday,” read a Tweet by the Indian High Commission in Kenya, with purported images of Indians doing Yoga on the foothills of Mount Kenya to celebrate International Yoga Day 2018.
The tweet has now been deleted by @IndiaInKenya after several users tweeted that it’s fake.
Jo duniya ko photoshop bechta hai tum usko Photoshop bech rahe ho ..Wo bhi itni nakli 😂😂 https://t.co/kB1YnxyG5D
— Rofl Gandhi (@RoflGandhi_) June 18, 2018
Please ask your Yoga trainer to teach Editasana for proper editing of pics in future 🙏🏻
— The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) June 18, 2018
One of the first images that crops up when one searches Mount Kenya on Google is the photograph used in the tweet.
Moreover, they are poorly photoshopped and if one notices closely, the clouds in all the images are positioned at the exact same place behind the mountains.
The Indian High Commission in Kenya has deleted the tweet and apologised for sharing unverified images. They tweeted that the photographs were sent to them by a community member.
We apologise for sharing an unverified/ edited photo of Yoga at the foot of Mt Kenya, which was sent to us by a community member.
— India in Kenya (@IndiainKenya) June 18, 2018
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Indian High Commission in Kenya’s clarification on the error is appreciable at a time when misinformation on social media is commonplace.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th June 2018 / 10:39 pm / Last updated: 9th July 2018
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Indian journalists quote Chinese casualties based on unverified source - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
16th June 2020 / 10:47 pm / Last updated: 17th June 2020
The border dispute between India and China led to speculations on social media after reports of one officer and two soldiers killed on the Indian side came to light on June 16. As per the latest update, 20 Indian soldiers are feared dead. According to a report in Al Jazeera, Indian officials claimed, “Chinese soldiers crossed the boundary at three different points, erecting tents and guard posts and ignoring verbal warnings to leave.” However, the Foreign Ministry of China blamed Indian troops for crossing the border line twice on Monday (June 15), “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides.”
After the news of the death of an Indian officer and two soldiers was reported, several media outlets and journalists from the country were quick to claim that five Chinese troops lost their lives in the violent face-off.
Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana and Sweta Singh reported five deaths and 11 casualties on the Chinese side. Sardana credited the information to China-based Global Times.
Aaj Tak also broadcast a show where the numbers were shown.
ABP’s Rubika Liyaquat and India Today’s Shiv Aroor also shared the purported information, ascribing it to Global Times reporters Wang Wenwen and Hu Xijin. Aroor later took down his tweet.
Times Now and News18 ran broadcasts on the ‘news’.
Casualties in clash across LAC, 1st time in 45 years.
3 Indian braves martyred, but India hits back with venom as 5 Chinese soldiers were killed.
Several more injured in clash.
Athar with more details. pic.twitter.com/XaoK5GYPFt
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 16, 2020
भारत चीन के टकराव पर @News18India का कहना है कि भारत के 3 और चीन के 5 सैनिकों की मौत। #NLprimetime pic.twitter.com/XCl5eTx8ln
— Atul Chaurasia (@BeechBazar) June 16, 2020
Global Times reporter Wang Wewen had indeed tweeted that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) lost five soldiers and 11 others were injured.
Reports say 5 PLA soldiers were killed and 11 were injured at LAC China-India border yesterday.
— Wang Wenwen (@WenwenWang1127) June 16, 2020
Wenwen cited her source as ‘News Line IFE’.
Here is the source. https://t.co/Ahy3m4rxmB
— Wang Wenwen (@WenwenWang1127) June 16, 2020
As it turned out, News Line IFE is an Indian account and Wenwen later retracted her tweet. She also tagged India Today and wrote, “It is unprofessional for Indian media to say this is official news from the Chinese side.”
I cited an Indian source of @NewsLineIFE about a physical clash at LAC China-India border yesterday. No confirmation from the official Chinese source regarding casualties yet. It is unprofessional for Indian media to say this is official news from the Chinese side. @IndiaToday pic.twitter.com/OIGBKq61Gn
— Wang Wenwen (@WenwenWang1127) June 16, 2020
Global Times reported that the channel has not released the exact number of Chinese casualties from its official accounts.
The official Global Times accounts have NEVER reported the exact casualties on the Chinese side. The Global Times CANNOT confirm the number at the moment.
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) June 16, 2020
Editor-in-Chief of Global Times Hu Xijin who was also cited as a source for the number of casualties on the Chinese side tweeted that the Chinese government did not release the number of PLA casualties.
Chinese side didn’t release number of PLA casualties in clash with Indian soldiers. My understanding is the Chinese side doesn’t want people of the two countries to compare the casualties number so to avoid stoking public mood. This is goodwill from Beijing.
— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) June 16, 2020
It is noteworthy that Xijin had not put out an exact number of casualties in his earlier tweet as well, which was shared by several Indian users and journalists. He wrote, “Based on what I know, Chinese side also suffered casualties in the Galwan Valley physical clash.”
Therefore, a piece of unverified information tweeted by a journalist with China-based Global Times was used to claim that five Chinese soldiers were killed in the border dispute. This was shared after the news of three Indian troops who lost their lives was reported. However, quite ironically, the source of this ‘news’ was an Indian account and the unverified information was amplified by Indian media and journalists. As of this writing, 20 Indian soldiers are feared dead. ANI quoted “sources” claiming that the Chinese army suffered 43 casualties, including dead and injured, however, neither the Indian army nor the Chinese government has made any official statement regarding casualties on the Chinese side.
[Update: Aaj Tak’s broadcast carrying the misinformation was added to the report on June 17, 2020.]
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th June 2020 / 10:47 pm / Last updated: 17th June 2020
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Indian media falsely claims ex-Pak diplomat admits 300 killed in Balakot airstrike - Alt News
Kalim Ahmed
10th January 2021 / 4:57 pm / Last updated: 11th January 2021
On Friday, January 9, Indian news outlets reported that former Pakistani diplomat, “Agha” Hilaly has admitted that the February 26, 2019 Balakot airstrike saw 300 casualties on the Pakistani side. The aftermath of the Balakot airstrike had given rise to media reports placing the casualties at 300 citing “top government sources” even as Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the casualty figure will not be provided. International media had subsequently reported that no one had died in the strikes.
The story was reported by ANI, Republic, The Times of India, Moneycontrol, WION, Hindustan Times, NE Now, Odisha TV, Jagran, Swarajya, Lokmat, Oneindia, Deccan Herald, Business Today, Livemint, DNA, The Quint, News18 India, HW News, India Today, CNBC TV18, ABP News, NDTV, India TV among others. Many of these reports are republished ANI story.
The reports say that in a TV news debate Hilaly said, “India crossed the international border and did an act of war in which at least 300 were reported dead. Our target was different from theirs. We targeted their high command. That was our legitimate target because they are men of the military. We subconsciously accepted that a surgical strike — a limited action — did not result in any casualty. Now we have subconsciously told them that, whatever they will do, we’ll do only that much and won’t escalate.”
We looked for the debate on YouTube and found that it was uploaded by HUM news as part of a program called “Agenda Pakistan”. The topic of the debate was “By using the vocabulary of the enemy (in this context “surgical strike”) is Pakistan making its own case weak?”. Zafar Hilaly begins to answer this question at around 4:17 minutes. At about 5:14 minutes he says, “What you did, India, was an act of war. India ne jo kiya, international boundary ko cross karke ek act of war. Jisme kam se kam 300 logo ko unhone marna tha.” In English, this translates to, “What you did, India was an act of war. By crossing the international boundary India committed an act of war in which they intended to kill at least 300 people.”
In the very next sentence at 5:29 minutes diplomat states that the Indian operation had failed — “Ittifaqan vo nahi mare, humne [India ne] ek football field ko bomb kiya. (Coincidentally, they [Pakistani people] did not die and India bombed a football field.)”
In fact, Hilaly was also speaking about India’s intention to kill 300 on the Pakistani side prior to the portion of the segment made viral. At about 4:30 minutes, he states, “Aapne aake ek madrasa ko, bakaul aapka intention ye tha ki ek madrasa mein jis mein 300 bachche bakaul aapke padh rahe the, udhar aake aapne strike karna tha. Iske maane 300 logo ko maarne ka irada rakha tha aapne. Vo the nahi, vo galat tha, vo hua nahi. Isliye ek football field mein jaake apna bomb phek diya humne. (It is said that your intention was to strike at a madrasa where 300 children were studying. This means that your intention was to kill 300 people. They were not there, this [information] was wrong, it [strike] did not happen so you threw your bomb in a football field.)”
From the video transcript is clear that at no point the Pakistani diplomat admitted that there were 300 casualties in the Balakot airstrike.
None of the media organisations referred to the original video in their reports. But Republic and NE Now embedded a video uploaded by a Twitter user. If we compare the original video with the one embedded by Republic, there is an abrupt cut around 0:7-0:9 seconds. The word “marna (to kill)” sounds as if Hilaly said “mara (killed)”. The ‘n’ pronunciation has been edited out.
Former Pak Diplomat Zafar admitted On Tv that in Balakot airstrike 300+ Terr0rists kiIIed and response of Pakistan was weak.pic.twitter.com/EKYGGuC9dS
— Maverick Bharat (@Mave_Intel) January 9, 2021
His statement right after the above claim has also been removed in the viral clip. This was where Hilaly makes the claim that the Indian operation failed and the airforce instead bombed a football field.
Furthermore, the viral video has been inverted and screen-recorded. The original video shows the damaged trees of Balakot and the doctored video shows a picture of PM Narendra Modi in military fatigue. The doctored video also doesn’t feature the names of the people in the panel and the border is pink unlike the white border in the original video.
Zafar Hilaly himself confirmed that his statement was “cut, spliced and edited”.
The extraordinarily extent to which the Indian Govt has gone to cut, splice and edit the tape of my Hum TV appearance suggests their desperation to prove what they failed to do, namely, lend credence to Modi’s lies about Balacot and his farcical claims.
— Zafar Hilaly (@ZafarHilaly) January 10, 2021
The Times Of India has an item based on the cut, spliced and edited tape of my Hum TV talk. Lacking first hand proof re Balacot, Modi is desperate for 3rd party confirmation for his lies and, not finding any, is doing a terrible job making it up.
— Zafar Hilaly (@ZafarHilaly) January 10, 2021
Nearly every Indian media organisation reported that former Pakistani diplomat Zafar Hilaly admitted that the Indian airstrike killed 300 people in Balakot. The reports were based on a clipped and doctored panel discussion shared on social media.
Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th January 2021 / 4:57 pm / Last updated: 11th January 2021
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"author": "Kalim Ahmed"
}
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1,618 |
Indian media falsely report Mirabai Chanu stands chance of upgrading to gold - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
2nd August 2021 / 3:00 pm
India’s Mirabai Chanu bagged a silver in the Women’s 49kg weightlifting category at Tokyo Olympics. She came second to China’s Zhihui Hou on July 24. Two days hence, ANI published a story claiming Hou will undergo an anti-doping test and Mirabai Chanu will be awarded the gold medal if Hou fails the test. “She has been asked to stay in Tokyo and the test will be done. The test is definitely happening,” ANI quoted a “source in the know of developments” in its report published at 1:18 pm on July 26.
Tokyo Olympics: Weightlifter Hou to be tested by anti-doping authorities, silver medallist Chanu stands chance to get medal upgrade
Read @ANI Story | https://t.co/6dn9GPlA2e#OlympicGames #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/dxJqZpxlux
— ANI Digital (@ani_digital) July 26, 2021
ANI’s report was carried by The Economic Times, Catch News, Business Standard, Times Now, India.com, Republic and The Telegraph.
Pro-BJP propaganda websites The Frustrated Indian and OpIndia also referred to ANI’s report.
Sports journalist Boria Majumdar tweeted about the alleged news – “There is a message in the Indian group in the village that says she is being tested and to watch out what happens.” This was at 12:40 pm, less than an hour before ANI’s report.
Why is the Chinese gold medal winning athlete who beat Chanu is being tested for dope 2 days later? There is a message in the Indian group in the village that says she is being tested and to watch out what happens. Members of the indian delegation not saying much! #TokyoOlympics
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) July 26, 2021
He also wrote an article in India Today which said, “While it’s commonplace for Olympic medalists to undergo doping tests, Zhihui’s case involves adverse analytical finding, meaning there will be tests to figure out if there is anything adverse in the first sample.” Sports website The Bridge published an article referring to Majumdar’s tweet.
A plethora of other media organisations reported that Hou will undergo a second doping test – Newsroom Post, Dainik Jagran, ABP News, Aaj Tak, Hindustan, News18, Outlook, Loksatta, India TV and Asianet.
The first person who tweeted that Zhihui Hou will be tested by anti-doping authorities was American hedge fund manager Kyle Bassus at 8:39 am on July 26.
China’s Hou will be tested by anti-doping authorities at the @Olympics #China @PDChina @HuXijinGT pic.twitter.com/PE4cOAMiHw
— 🇺🇸Kyle Bass🇺🇸 (@Jkylebass) July 26, 2021
The alleged news also reached Taiwanese media which said that Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah, a Taiwanese indigenous athlete, could win bronze if Hou was found doping. “Olympic officials now suspect Hou of doping and are requiring her to stay in Japan to undergo an additional test for performance-enhancing substances,” reported taiwannews.com.
On July 30, ANI published another story stating, “Earlier, ANI had reported Zhihui Hou will be tested by anti-doping authorities and if she failed the test, then Chanu stands a chance to be awarded gold. But there has been no testing and it was an inadvertent error while reporting the news.”
Olympic news website Inside The Games published an article that same day debunking the news widespread in Indian media. “A “made-up” story involving weightlifters from China and India has been so widely reported throughout Asia that it has led to claims of athletes from three nations being involved in medal reallocations. The story appears to have emanated from Asian News International, which has 100 bureaus and labels itself “Asia’s premier news agency”,” wrote Inside The Games.
The outlet reported that both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Testing Agency (ITA) said they knew nothing about the claim. “We do not know where it started but we follow, as always, the strategy to transparently state any developments on our website,” said ITA.
Alt News cross-checked ITA’s website. There is no update on Zhihui Hou’s second anti-doping test.
Furthermore, Inside The Games also cited an official from the Chinese Weightlifting Association who described the Indian report as “made-up”.
While ANI has published a clarification report without taking down its earlier article, no other media outlet has acknowledged the error. The Economic Times reported in its Olympics updates from July 31 that Zhihui will not be taken for a doping test.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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2nd August 2021 / 3:00 pm
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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Indian media misreports Pak singer faces 3 years in jail for MeToo allegation against Ali Zafar - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
16th March 2021 / 8:21 pm
Multiple media outlets in India have reported that Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi faces up to three years in prison for “levelling false accusations of sexual harassment” against actor-singer Ali Zafar. “As per a report, post Ali Zafar’s defamation case against Meesha, a Pakistani Court has awarded 3 years of jail term to Meesha for causing ‘irreparable damages to his career thanks to the false case’,” reported The Times of India citing an unnamed report.
In 2018, when the global #MeToo movement was at its height, Meesha Shafi had accused Ali Zafar of sexual harassment on more than one occasion. A day later Zafar denied all allegations and tweeted that he will take the case “through the court of law”. Last September, multiple other women came forward with similar allegations.
New18, ABP News, DNA, Republic, Amar Ujala, Aaj Tak, IB Times and Newsd were among the media outlets that claimed Meesha will face three years in prison. “As per Mail Online, Shaafi, who accused Zafar of sexually harassing her during the #MeToo 2018 movement, faces a three-year jail term in Pakistan after Ali filed criminal defamation charge against her,” reported Zee News.
Other platforms that reported the same were Koimoi and SheThePeople.
Reports carried by Indian media outlets have got several facts of the case wrong. For starters, Meesha Shafi was not sentenced to three years in prison by a Pakistani court but the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) cybercrime wing booked eight women, including Shafi, who had levelled charges of sexual harassment against Zafar. Shafi was the only one who had lodged a formal complaint. An FIR was filed against the women for a non-cognisable offence on the order of the FIA special court, based on a complaint filed by Zafar alleging a smear campaign, reported Pakistan-based Dawn on September 29, 2020. “A verdict is yet to be announced,” reported Dawn in a recent article.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) had published an extensive report on March 12 explaining the details of the case. In the latest development, the Supreme Court agreed to deliberate on whether her allegations against Zafar fall under the country’s Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act of 2010. This was after Shafi lost a series of legal battles in which judicial authorities ruled that her case isn’t covered by the law.
The report in WSJ does not say that she has been awarded three years imprisonment but that she could face up to three years of jail time if she is convicted in the defamation case filed by Zafar. According to Dawn, the defamation case has been pending before a session’s court.
British tabloid Daily Mail’s erroneous interpretation of WSJ’s report was referred by multiple Indian media outlets.
Shafi’s lawyer Asad Jamal took to Twitter to clarify that media reports have published false news. “Let there be no confusion that no such verdict has been passed by any court in Pakistan. In fact, the court has not even indicted any of the several men and women accused by Ali Zafar of spreading falsehood,” he wrote.
This is with ref to the fake news claiming that my client Meesha Shafi has been sentenced to 3 yrs imprisonment.
No such verdict has been passed by trial court in the frivolous criminal defamation case instituted by Ali Zafar against several women.
Read complete statement below pic.twitter.com/49vRSXtvFe
— Asad Jamal (@LegalPolitical) March 15, 2021
Shafi also responded to the misinformation. “Speaking up is WAY MORE EXHAUSTING than being groped. This is why we end up suffering in silence,” she wrote.
Another day, another campaign spreading false information.
Speaking up is WAY MORE EXHAUSTING than being groped. This is why we end up suffering in silence. Sending lots of love and solidarity to all who speak up. It’s hard! @LegalPolitical setting the record straight 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 https://t.co/en22Mc7I25
— MEESHA SHAFI (@itsmeeshashafi) March 15, 2021
Media outlets in India that carried the false news have neither updated their reports nor issued a clarification on the misreporting as of this writing.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th March 2021 / 8:21 pm
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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Indian media outlets fall for impostor account claiming France revoked 183 Pakistani visas - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
3rd November 2020 / 5:38 pm / Last updated: 4th November 2020
French President Emmanuel Macron’s remark that Islam is a “religion in crisis” sparked a wave of protests in several parts of the Muslim world. Tensions aggravated after Macron supported the freedom to blaspheme following Samuel Paty’s beheading by a Muslim fundamentalist. Drawings of Prophet Muhammed were projected on government buildings even as such visual depiction is prohibited in Islam. Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan accused Macron of “attacking Islam”.
As tensions run high between France and the Muslim world, multiple media organisations reported that France revoked the visas of 183 Pakistanis living in the country and did not “bow down to pressure” imposed by Islamic nations.
“French authorities have rejected 183 visitor visas following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s remarks on French President Emmanuel Macron,” reported ANI on November 1 further adding that the “Consulate General Of Pakistan France has requested the French authorities to allow a temporary stay of Lt General Ahmad Shuja Pasha’s sister, who is in the country to see her ailing mother-in-law”. Pasha is a former chief of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI.
ANI’s report was republished by Yahoo News. A similar report was carried by DNA which said, “This action of Macron government is directly linked to the anti-French rhetoric of Imran Khan.” The purported news also found a place in a blog post by The Times of India.
Hindi media outlets covered the ‘news’ much more widely than English mainstream media outlets. Reports claimed that 183 Pakistani visas were revoked and 118 Pakistani citizens were forcefully deported despite carrying proper documents. Among these were News18, Patrika, News Nation, Amar Ujala, Aaj Tak, TV9 Bharatvarsh, Dainik Jagran and Zee News.
Aaj Tak had taken down its story by the time this article was written. An archived link to the report can be accessed here.
TV9 Bharatvarsh titled its report as, “France takes big action against fanatics, revokes visas of 183 Pakistanis.”
Regional outlets Punjab Kesari and Divya Bhaskar reported the same.
The reports were based on tweets by a Twitter account with the name ‘Consulate General of Pakistan France’. The account has a little over 450 followers, none among them Pakistani government institutions or officials. This itself hints that the handle is fake.
183 visitor visa provided to our citizens has been found to be rejected by french authorities following the criticism by PM Imran khan. 118 citizen with proper documents were deported forcefully. We’re currently in touch with french authority to give our citizens temporary stay.
— Consulate General Of Pakistan France (@PakConsulateFr) October 31, 2020
The Twitter account of the Embassy of Pakistan in France clarified about the misinformation. “The Embassy of Pakistan in Paris, France has only one Twitter account @PakInFrance,” read the tweet.
The Embassy of Pakistan in Paris, France has only one Twitter account @PakInFrance. Any other account claiming to represent the Embassy anywhere in France is fake & misleading & may be reported to @Twitter.@FakeNews_Buster @ForeignOfficePk @MoIB_Official pic.twitter.com/35y7NhXBkh
— Embassy of Pakistan, Paris, France (@PakinFrance) November 1, 2020
Since the handle is not verified, Alt News checked the verified Facebook page of the Embassy of Pakistan to France that mentions that @PakInFrance is its Twitter handle.
Furthermore, the tweet was retweeted by the verified handle of the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Pakistani media also reported on the misinformation.
A plethora of Indian media outlets, therefore, claimed that France has revoked the visas of 183 Pakistani nationals and forcefully deported 118 Pakistani citizens based on an imposter account of Pakistan’s embassy in France. Ironically, several among these have fact-checking desks, for instance, The Times of India and Aaj Tak. In fact, Aaj Tak’s English counterpart India Today published a fact-check report on the misinformation. Dainik Jagran which also carried the false report has an independent fact-checking outlet Vishwas News.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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3rd November 2020 / 5:38 pm / Last updated: 4th November 2020
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
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1,621 |
Indian media present UP govt ad in TIME as actual 'report' by the magazine - Alt News
Sam Jawed
7th January 2021 / 1:24 pm / Last updated: 7th January 2021
Several news channels including Zee News, ABP Ganga and News18 UP have telecasted news about TIME magazine appreciating Yogi Adityanath government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. It was a similar spectacle on most channels with screens displaying content from the magazine, anchors commending the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and on-screen text heaping lavish praises on him. The ‘news’ was also reported in print by Patrika.
‘Duniya ne bhi mana Yogi ka karnama’ (The world also acknowledges Yogi’s feat), read the text on Zee News. The channel also tweeted stating, “कोरोना काल में यूपी सरकार के काम बजा डंका, CM योगी को TimeMagazine ने सराहा”. (During Corona times, the work of UP government widely recognized, TIME magazine praises.)
कोरोना काल में यूपी सरकार के काम बजा डंका, CM योगी को #TimeMagazine ने सराहा@myogioffice @CMOfficeUP #UttarPradesh @UPGovt @nhm_up @shalabhmani @MrityunjayUP @Dr_raheessingh https://t.co/VDeUzNb0eb
— Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand (@ZEEUPUK) January 6, 2021
Right-wing propaganda website OpIndia published a Hindi report captioned as, “जिस ‘TIME’ मैगजीन ने कहा था कट्टर, वही हुआ CM योगी का मुरीद” (TIME magazine which referred to him as a radical is now in awe of CM Yogi.)
“Hang in there, better times are ahead” — the article in TIME magazine about Uttar Pradesh government’s COVID management was first shared by Chief Minister Adityanath’s Office on December 15, 2020. Praising Adityanath for his “deft handling”, his office urged readers to read the “full report in TIME”.
“Hang In There, Better Times are Ahead”@UPGovt Innovate Covid Management Model.
UP CM Shri @myogiadityanath Ji’s deft handling of the COVID-19 situation is an extraordinary example of health administration under most trying circumstances.
Read full report in @TIME … pic.twitter.com/0PKV8V1VBe
— Yogi Adityanath Office (@myogioffice) December 15, 2020
The post didn’t get much traction at that time but two weeks later, the content made its way to mainstream media via social media where it was shared by Ashish Chahan, the CEO of BSE and BJP supporter, Rishi Bagree.
Congratulations Shri @myogiadityanath ji for setting an example for the world on how to fight COVID. The UP Model getting applauded and recognized by TIME magazine speaks a lot about the efficient governance. @navneetsehgal3 pic.twitter.com/ZIBt4eFrnl
— Ashish Chauhan (@ashishchauhan) January 4, 2021
— Rishi Bagree 🇮🇳 (@rishibagree) January 3, 2021
It was also shared by Swatantra Dev Singh, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh
“Being positive in a negative situation is not naive, it is leadership. No other leader exemplifies this than the UP CM Shri @myogiadityanath Ji”
Time magazine has published an article on UP’s covid management model.
A matter of great pride for Uttar Pradesh. pic.twitter.com/tsunTNmdVR
— Swatantra Dev Singh (@swatantrabjp) January 6, 2021
On closer look, it turns out that the three-page article is an advertorial by Uttar Pradesh government. The article carries the text “content from Uttar Pradesh” on top. Advertorials are paid advertisements written in the style of an editorial. Moreover, unlike reports, the piece does not have an author byline.
The fact that it is an advertorial explains why the article cannot be found on Time magazine’s website and there is no online link for it. A Twitter user who got printed copy of the magazine pointed out that it is not available in the international and American editions.
Newslaundry has traced the content to a media release by the UP government that was sent to journalists in early December. It is noteworthy that the tweet by CM Yogi Adityanath’s Office posted on December 15 did not make an attempt to clarify that the TIME piece is not an article but an advertorial provided by the UP government.
The channels that ran the news seem oblivious of the fact that TIME magazine has been critical of CM Adityanath. Ironically, Zee News has forgotten that a few months ago it did a ‘Taal Thok Ke’ program on TIME Magazine’s ‘Anti India Campaign’. In an article by TIME on India’s preparedness to handle COVID, CM Adityanath featured in the government-sponsored misinformation subsection. The article said that “elected officials from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party have promoted unproven therapies” and went on to state, “Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath suggested that COVID-19 and other diseases could be overcome with the help of Yoga”.
News18 which presented UP government’s ad as a ‘report’ in both print and broadcast, transformed its Hindi story into a fact-check after the organisation was called out for publishing false news.
Sponsored content of this nature can be deceptive and difficult for readers to distinguish from real content. It is understandable that social media users may fail to make the distinction between a report and sponsored content but it is unforgivable to see mainstream media carry an advertorial as ‘news’.
Nobody's cheerleader, I tweet at @samjawed65
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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7th January 2021 / 1:24 pm / Last updated: 7th January 2021
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"author": "Sam Jawed"
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Indian media’s attempts to cover up the faux pas in PM Modi’s speech at Davos - Alt News
Sam Jawed
24th January 2018 / 3:29 pm
Prime Minister Modi made a faux pas while addressing the plenary session of the World Economic Forum at Davos. For some reason he wanted to inform his international audience about the number of people who voted his government to power and got the number wildly wrong. “In 2014, after 30 years, the 600 crore voters in India provided complete majority to any political party to form government at the Centre.” While bragging about his historic mandate, Mr. Prime Minister dropped the 600 crore (6 billion) number out of the blue. India’s population is 130 crore (1.3 billion) and the number of voters who voted his party to power is only a fraction of this number. Maybe he read the speech on the teleprompter wrong or for those who like to believe it was an extempore speech, maybe it was a slip of tongue. Either way, the audience knew it was an inadvertent error. What we are discussing here is not a small error, but Indian media’s surprising reaction to it.
The erroneous figure was tweeted and promptly deleted by the Prime Minister’s office. Indian media was reporting the speech verbatim and ended up tweeting the 600 crore number. Let us see how they reacted after discovering the error.
It was not a mistake by the media but an unintentional slip by the prime minister. Yet several media like ANI, Economic Times, Aaj Tak decided to impose self-censorship and deleted the tweet. They did this knowing that the video is available and so are the screenshots of their tweets.
Aaj Tak however carried a story on its website about PM Modi’s slip of tongue. The same was the case with Firstpost Hindi. Times of India also reported PM Modi’s faux pas next day.
There were others like Hindustan Times, Deccan Herald, DNA and Republic who stood their ground. The PM’s statement was reported the way it was made and no attempt was made to delete or cover-up after realizing that the PM had made an error.
In 2014 after 30 years, the 600 crore Indians provided complete majority to any political party to form govt at the centre. We took the resolution for the development of everyone and not just a specific group. Our motto is 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'.: PM Modi #WorldEconomicForum pic.twitter.com/9qCjvRX1X7
— Hindustan Times (@htTweets) January 23, 2018
"In 2014 after 30 years, the 600 crore Indians provided a complete majority to any political party to form govt at the centre. We took the resolution for the development of everyone and not just a specific group. Our motto is 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'.": Modi addressing #Davos.
— Deccan Herald (@DeccanHerald) January 23, 2018
In 2014 after 30 years, the 600 crore Indians provided a complete majority to any political party to form govt at the centre. We took the resolution for the development of everyone and not just a specific group. Our motto is 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas': #PMModiAtDavos
— Republic (@republic) January 23, 2018
Yes, believe it or not, there were those who decided to edit the error and report what the Prime Minister did not actually say.
ANI replaced their original tweet with this one.
In 2014 after 30 years, Indian voters provided complete majority to any political party to form govt at the centre. We took the resolution for the development of everyone and not just a specific group. Our motto is 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'.: PM Modi #WorldEconomicForum pic.twitter.com/pWnYRZnluL
— ANI (@ANI) January 23, 2018
Others like First Post reported the revised ANI version.
"In 2014 after 30 years, Indian voters provided complete majority to any political party to form govt at the centre. We took the resolution for the development of everyone and not just a specific group," #NarendraModi says at #Davos
Follow #WEF18 #LIVE: https://t.co/ILLXOUUa3d pic.twitter.com/RIUoPlNZIK
— Firstpost (@firstpost) January 23, 2018
When India was ranked a lowly 136 in the 2017 Press Freedom Index, one of the reasons stated for it was the growing self-censorship in mainstream media. Here we see an example of media shying away even from reporting a statement from the Prime Minister’s speech because it contained an inadvertent error. PM Modi made an error that was televised the world over and is available as a video recording. Yet some sections of the media are purging all reference to it and others including a leading national news agency are bending backwards to cover-up the error. A simple faux pas has exposed Indian media’s fear of criticising the government or portraying it in a negative light.
Nobody's cheerleader, I tweet at @samjawed65
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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24th January 2018 / 3:29 pm
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"author": "Sam Jawed"
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Indian media's reluctant coverage of 2017 World Press Freedom Index is a reflection of India's low rank - Alt News
Sam Jawed
10th May 2017 / 12:11 am / Last updated: 10th May 2017
In 2013, when India’s rank in the World Press Freedom Index dropped sharply from 131 to 140, Times of India’s headline, “India drops to 140th rank in press freedom, lowest since 2002” raised concerns about the degree of press freedom in the “world’s biggest democracy”. In 2017, India is ranked 136 but the newspaper that earlier took a lead in reporting the story, doesn’t want to talk about it. Why are sections of Indian media reluctant to share the details of press freedom in India?
Reporters Sans Frontières (Reporters Without Borders) compiles The World Press Freedom Index every year that ranks 180 countries according to the level of freedom available to journalists. It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country.
In the 2017 World Press Freedom Index, India ranked 136 out of 180, down three points from last year. India’s ranking since last 10 years has been low, falling steadily since 2010 largely due to the violence faced by reporters in the field and investigative journalists particularly in troubled areas. The lowest rank was 140 in 2013 and 2014. There was a slight improvement for two years before a fall again in 2017
Coming back to the question, why are sections of Indian media reluctant to share the details of press freedom in India? The rank in 2017 is not the lowest that India has seen. Why this reluctance to share details?
The answer perhaps lies in self-censorship by the media in view of both the falling rank and the words that the report had to say about India. In 2016, when there was a slight improvement in the rank, RSF had highlighted the concern about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s indifference to the threats and problems faced by journalists. In the 2017 report, the “indifference” had become a “threat”. The 2017 report specifically mentions the “threat from Modi’s nationalism” in the context of press freedom. The key point “self-censorship” by mainstream media can be seen in how the report itself was covered
Here is what RSF said about press freedom in India:
With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of “anti-national” thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media. Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals. Prosecutions are also used to gag journalists who are overly critical of the government, with some prosecutors invoking Section 124a of the penal code, under which “sedition” is punishable by life imprisonment. No journalist has so far been convicted of sedition but the threat encourages self-censorship. The government has also introduced new foreign funding regulations to limit international influence. Coverage of regions that the authorities regard as sensitive, such as Kashmir, continues to be very difficult, and there are no protective mechanisms. On the first day of a wave of protests in Kashmir in July 2016, the Internet was cut by the military and was often interrupted thereafter to prevent communication between protesters and prevent coverage by the media and citizen journalists. Journalists working for local media outlets are often the targets of violence by soldiers acting with the central government’s tacit consent.
Looking at how the media covered the story:
The reluctance of some sections of the media to report details of India’s low ranking in World Press Freedom Index is telling. Only a handful of the media shared the full details behind India’s dismal rank. Others shared in part, skipping out the criticism. Yet others tried to twist the conclusions drawing attention to happenings in other parts of the world. And then there were those who carried the story and deleted it as an afterthought.
Hindustan Times had comprehensive coverage of the fall in ranking and the reasons behind it. It quoted RSF about the threat from Modi’s nationalism and carried extracts from the description.
The Telegraph also carried a comprehensive story.
The Hindu also carried the news of “India three points down to 136 in World Press Freedom Index”. While it didn’t explicitly mention the phrase “threat from Modi’s nationalism” it carried the rating and also its description, quoting RSF.
Indian Express did not carry a separate story on the World Press Freedom Index but covered the India’s rank and extracts from the RSF write-up as a part of its breaking down news article.
India today reported India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index without any explanation or concerns raised RSF.
Financial Express also mentioned only the rank without any explanation but it combined the story with the Hoot report about the violence faced by the journalists in the past 16 months.
Online portal India.com tried to give the story a different spin by talking about issues in other parts of the world and beheading of journalists by ISIS. It went on to elaborate on PM Modi’s unwavering commitment to freedom of press without any mention of the concerns highlighted by the RSF.
Interestingly Zee News conducted a DNA test on the report and tried to explain what freedom of press means and why India ranks low. The video did not cover the specific concerns raised by RSF like “Modi’s nationalism”, but gave an overview of what is wrong with the media, including the nexus of sections of the media with politicians and corporate houses and the problem with fake news. This video became the target of a parody video by Newslaundry highlighting incidents when Zee News themselves were an example of what is wrong with the media.
Times of India perhaps had the most comprehensive coverage of the World Press Freedom Index in their article with the headline “Threat from Modi’s nationalism” leads to abysmal rank for India in “press freedoms” report. Ironically, on May 3, which is the International Press Freedom day, the article was found deleted. You can read more about it in this report by Newslaundry.
Deletion of the article by Times of India is puzzling. Their website still carries the detailed coverage they gave to the index in previous years. In 2016, TOI even carried an infographic to show the status of freedom of press in India and how it had improved from 140 in 2014 to 136 in 2015 to 133 in 2014.
Economic times too had covered the Index in previous years but deleted the story this year.
The only mention of press freedom on Times of India website is PM Modi’s tweet on the World Press Freedom day saying free and vibrant press is vital for democracy.
The extent of self-censorship shown by some sections of the media in sharing details of India’s rank in the World Press Freedom Index is disturbing. By blocking out the story completely or sharing only selective aspects of it, they have shown how uncomfortable they are about reporting stories criticizing the growth of radical nationalism under the current government. A free and vibrant press is indeed essential for democracy. And the way the Indian media covered the story shows us why India ranked a low 136 out of 180.
Nobody's cheerleader, I tweet at @samjawed65
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th May 2017 / 12:11 am / Last updated: 10th May 2017
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"author": "Sam Jawed"
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Indian politicians on a spree of denying on-record statements: Alt News compilation - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
21st February 2020 / 8:04 pm
On February 14, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar held a press conference in Pune. Several media outlets quoted the minister saying that he denied ever having called Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist. Responding to the statement, “You said that Kejriwal is a terrorist and you have a proof for the same,” Javadekar said, “I have never done such a thing. Secondly, the main outcome of Delhi election results is [that] the Congress lost completely.” The relevant portion can be heard from 30 seconds in the video.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKhEk6-ezF4?start=31]
In the run-up to the Delhi assembly elections, Prakash Javadekar held a press conference with Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and Union Minister Anurag Thakur on February 3, 2020. Addressing the presser, he said, “There is a reason why people of Delhi who were in support of [Arvind Kejriwal] have turned away from him, hence now Kejriwal is making an innocent face and asks, -‘am I a terrorist?’- You are a terrorist, there is plenty of proof for that. You had yourself said that you are an anarchist. There is not much of difference between an anarchist and terrorist.”
Javadekar continued, “In the last phase of Punjab elections, he [Kejriwal] stayed for a night at the house of Khalistan commando force’s terrorist -commander Gurinder Singh- in Moga. When asked why did you stay at his place. He said, ‘I will stay, knowing that he is a terrorist’. Knowing this and (still) choosing to stay there, what more evidence of terrorism [do you] need. Today, Kejriwal’s party supports Shaheen Bagh. We want to ask what is that you are supporting? Assam’s liberation, Jinnah wali Azadi (freedom), where there is sloganeering for breaking India. To stand with such slogans is also terrorism. (He) also stands with the anti-national slogans raised in JNU and hence, he is not giving permission to the case (sedition against JNU students). He gave the threat on January 26 that I will stop. How many more proofs do you need? People of Delhi have realised that you are the master of lies, and you are originally an anarchist, sympathising with terrorists…..hence you are a terrorist. Delhi knows you now.
Eminent Personalities from AAP are joining BJP.
Posted by BJP Delhi on Monday, 3 February 2020
Thus, eleven days after terming Kejriwal a “terrorist”, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar denied the on-record statement.
But Javadekar is only one example among the many politicians who’ve made controversial statements then backtracked. Alt News has found several prominent political leaders denying on-the-record statements, whether uttered by them or fellow party members. In this article, we will only be focusing on the month of January when leading politicians took a one-eighty on their remarks.
During an interview with NDTV’s Sreenivasan Jain, Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari had also denied that anyone from his party has called Kejriwal ‘a terrorist’. He said, “[We] have not called him a terrorist.” When Jain showed Javadekar’s video to Tiwari, the politician responded, “He is saying that there are so many proofs that you [Kejriwal] are a terrorist.”
.@OnReality_Check | “We are talking about his (Arvind Kejriwal’s) conduct. We have not called him a terrorist”: says Manoj Tiwari, BJP Delhi chief on Prakash Javadekar remarks on Delhi Chief Minister.#DelhiElections2020
More on https://t.co/Fbzw6mR9Q5 and NDTV 24×7 pic.twitter.com/rbTVQdlgCW
— NDTV (@ndtv) February 5, 2020
Regardless of the clarification given by Manoj Tiwari, the fact remains that Javadekar did call Kejriwal a ‘terrorist’, as mentioned earlier in this report.
In an interview with ABP News, ahead of the Delhi assembly elections, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was questioned about terming PM Modi “anti-national”. Kejriwal denied ever making the remark. The discussion can be heard below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T21FcNAWkMw?start=874]
However, Kejriwal did call the Prime Minister “anti-national” while addressing a poll rally in Haryana’s Hisar in May 2019. He said that PM Modi has an understanding with terrorists and Pakistan. Questioning the timing of Pulwama attack, Kejriwal said, “What was the need for Pakistan to carry out an attack just two months before the election? And 10 days later, [Pakistani PM] Mr Khan said that Mr Modi should be made the PM again.”
At 10 minutes into the video posted below, Kejriwal can be heard saying, “Some people are confused. Some people say Modi is a nationalist. Some people say Modi is a patriot. Today, it’s your responsibility to tell [the public] that there is no bigger anti-national than Modi.” He then emphasized, “Modi is a fake nationalist.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxzqO64czwY?start=596]
Earlier this week at Times Now summit, Home Minister Amit Shah was interviewed by journalist Navika Kumar. She pointed out the provocative slogans raised by BJP leaders during pro-CAA rallies such as ‘traitors of the country, should be shot down’, labelling the Delhi elections as ‘India vs Pakistan’ and the allegations that Shaheen Bagh protestors would enter homes and rape women and daughters. Shah acknowledged that the first two statements were made but denied that his party members made the ‘rape’ comment about Shaheen Bagh protestors.
Shah said, “No one has given such a statement… that daughter will be raped … But everything else that you said, they should not have given any statement.” From 2:58 minutes in the tweet below, the relevant portion can be heard.
#TimesNowSummit | BJP condemns the hate comments made by its netas & doesn’t endorse them: Union Home Minister @AmitShah tells Navika Kumar at TIMES NOW SUMMIT 2020. pic.twitter.com/PZHoyK64oo
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) February 13, 2020
However, BJP MP Parvesh Sharma did give the statement referred by Kumar in her interview. Verma said, “Lakhs of people gather there [Shaheen Bagh]. People of Delhi will have to think and take a decision. They’ll enter your houses, rape your sisters and daughters, kill them. There’s time today, Modi ji & Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow.”
#WATCH: BJP MP Parvesh Verma says, “…Lakhs of people gather there (Shaheen Bagh). People of Delhi will have to think & take a decision. They’ll enter your houses, rape your sisters&daughters, kill them. There’s time today, Modi ji & Amit Shah won’t come to save you tomorrow…” pic.twitter.com/1G801z5ZbM
— ANI (@ANI) January 28, 2020
In the age of digital media, nearly every statement given by politicians is recorded on video, yet many of them have been found backtracking on controversial remarks.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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21st February 2020 / 8:04 pm
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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Indians do not have genetic protection against coronavirus, published research incorrectly interpreted - Alt News
Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh, Alka Rao & Peeyush Prasad
4th April 2020 / 7:47 pm / Last updated: 5th April 2020
An opinion piece published on Livemint by Sandipan Deb claimed that COVID-19 will not affect Indians as they have the genetics for a sturdier immune system.
When questioned on Twitter, the author, also a founder of Swarajya Magazine, cited a Nature Asia article titled, ‘More immunity in Indian genes’, as his source.
The Nature Asia article (2008), based on the research study by Du and colleagues (2008), published in the journal ‘Genes & Immunity’ was conducted by a team of scientists from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), USA, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India (AIIMS), and National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), USA.
‘More immunity in Indian genes’ – The title of Nature Asia magazine article.
“Our bodies have one of the toughest immune systems in the world. We have grown up surrounded by so much filth and pollution that our natural resilience is much stronger than people in the developed world.” – Sandipan Deb in Livemint.
False.
1. The Livemint article is based on a superficial understanding of the title of the Nature Asia, not its text.
The Nature Asia article is titled ‘More immunity genes in Indians’. However, the article itself does not make any such claims that, on the basis of the research study quoted, that Indians will be protected from the coronavirus pandemic or other infections due to their biologically inherited ‘resilience’. It simply states that Indians may have more genes linked with immunity as per the data. Also, one of the authors of the article and the research study Rajalingam Raja wrote, “Whether having more activating KIR genes is an advantage or disadvantage for Indians remains to be elucidated.”
This means that the genes tested through this study are not a piece of conclusive evidence that the contested tougher immunity will be an advantage for Indians in any way.
2. The Nature Asia article is based on a research study based on a single gene polymorphism in various ethnicities.
The Nature Asia article is based on a research study which relies upon a single gene KIR2DL5 polymorphism in many ethnicities including Indian, East Asian, white (Caucasian) and black (African Americans), suggesting that the gene is not unique to Indians only. Also, no evidence suggests that the presence of gene translates to gene expression or phenotypic change (e.g. higher immunity) in this case.
Nature Asia article based its claim on a gene polymorphism study by Du and colleagues (2008). Genetic polymorphism is the occurrence of multiple forms of a single gene which is expressed in the same population as a trait or a phenotype (Bull, 2004). It is similar, but not the same, as varying levels of pigmentation in eyes, hair or skin colour.
The study quoted showed the nature of polymorphism of one gene KIR2DL5 in four ethnic groups: Caucasians (European race, mostly white), Asian-Indians (South Asians), African-Americans and Asians (East Asians, i.e. Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese and Filipino).
KIR2DL5 (or CD158f) is the last identified KIR gene (the inhibitory receptor expressed on the surface of immune cells), with KIR2DL4, it makes up a structurally divergent lineage conserved in different primate species such as humans. The percentage frequency of this KIR2DL5 gene in Indians is used as an indicator of higher immunity.
The graph from the research study illustrates that the percentage frequency of KIR2DL5 (A and B, polymorphic forms of KIR2DL5 gene) is higher in Asian Indians than the other ethnic populations studied. However, the graph below from the same study suggests that the Individuals carrying the KIR2DL5 gene vary substantially among populations ranging in frequency from 35-85%. Thus, as per the author’s conclusions, higher immunity can be found in every ethnicity ranging from 35-85% population, not just in Indians.
Hence, with such large variability in genes in each population, it is impossible to deduce that the researchers certainly found the KIR2DL5 gene more frequently in Indian ethnicities, as compared to other ethnicities.
Also, the research paper doesn’t claim that this higher frequency in Asian-Indians population is linked to a better immune system or more natural killer cells in the body. In fact, there are no conclusions drawn on any ethnic group being genetically superior or inferior regarding immunity.
3. Is the occurrence of genes (KIR2DL5 gene) linked with immunity synonymous with its traits (tougher immunity)?
The occurrence of more genes in a population isn’t always synonymous with better traits. This is mainly because a greater amount of genes doesn’t always translate to a protein abundance, which consequently becomes a trait. That is, the presence of genes doesn’t always lead to the presence of characteristic traits related to the expression of the gene.
Sometimes, polymorphic changes in natural killer cells can also be associated with a susceptibility towards certain diseases (Orange, 2002). Thus, more correlative studies should be conducted where a higher frequency of KIR2DL5 gene results in an increased immunity regardless of ethnicity.
4. Smaller sample size
The beneficial effects of higher frequency of a polymorphic gene in a population can only be established after detailed protein, genomics and evolutionary studies with large sample size. But in this study, only 96 Indian genomes were studied as opposed to 250 Caucasians. Hence, these higher percent frequencies of polymorphs KIR2DL5 gene could also be an artefact resulting from a smaller sample size.
Only 96 non-randomised samples for the Asian-Indian group were sourced from New Delhi, which is a minuscule representation for the Indian population. These sample sizes were further reduced after identification of KIR2DL5 positive individuals.
Also, the Nature Asia article further claims that Indians gained the activating KIR (killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors) genes because of natural selection to survive the environmental challenges during their pre-historic coastal migrations from Africa. This conclusion is not based on any evidence.
Dr Mehra, former Dean of AIIMS, in his opinion piece in The Print mentions the results from the same study that includes SK Sharma of AIIMS, to make his claims about the genetic advantage of Indians over Caucasians with respect to immunity against the coronavirus. Additionally, Dr Mehra also included other factors that may give Indians advantage – broad-based immunity due to overexposure to other pathogens, and epigenetic factors such as environment and consumption of Indian spices in cuisine. However, since the novelty of the virus and the increasing pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 in India, these claims remain without any research or evidence in Science.
The Nature Asia article published a misleading title on the basis of a genetics study which was termed inconclusive by the authors in their own research study. This title formed the basis of the Livemint article by Mr Deb.
The Nature Asia authors generalised their misleading article about Natural Killer cells (NK) to “immunity genes”. Natural killer cells are a small component of what makes up human immunity, not the expansive immune system.
Later, in the Livemint article, the Nature Asia article was used to claim a blanket superiority of the immune system of Indians. Mr Deb stated that Indians’ immune system is more robust than the people in the developed world to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Such dangerous opinion pieces with no understanding of the genetics of immunity have the potential to drive people to be careless with the protocols issued by the government on social distancing and other precautions or to encourage reckless behaviour during a critical situation.
Du, Z., Sharma, S. K., Spellman, S., Reed, E. F., & Rajalingam, R. (2008). KIR2DL5 alleles mark certain combination of activating KIR genes. Genes & Immunity, 9(5), 470-480.
Bull, L. (2004). Genetics, Mutations, and Polymorphisms. Molecular Pathogenesis of Cholestasis, 77-95.
Estefanía, E., Flores, R., Gómez-Lozano, N., Aguilar, H., López-Botet, M., & Vilches, C. (2007). Human KIR2DL5 is an inhibitory receptor expressed on the surface of NK and T lymphocyte subsets. The Journal of Immunology, 178(7), 4402-4410.
Orange, J. S. (2002). Human natural killer cell deficiencies and susceptibility to infection. Microbes and infection, 4(15), 1545-1558.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th April 2020 / 7:47 pm / Last updated: 5th April 2020
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Indu Makkal Katchi falsely claims Muslims accept "spitting" completes halal - Alt News
Archit
18th December 2021 / 6:19 pm
Tamil Nadu-based right-wing party Indu Makkal Katchi posted a tweet thread where the opening tweet reads, “In a court case they admitted that spitting is what made Halal complete, through out the Nation including TN. [sic]” The party claimed that the Muslim community admitted in court that it is essential to spit on food to make it Halal. This tweet has been retweeted over 1,500 times.
In a court case they admitted that spitting is what made Halal complete, thru out the Nation including TN. https://t.co/BlrOH0wRVj
— Indu Makkal Katchi (Offl) 🇮🇳 (@Indumakalktchi) November 22, 2021
The second tweet shows a screenshot of an article in the legal news portal Bar and Bench. The excerpt reads, “The religious scholars of the Muslim community have been proclaiming publicly that saliva is a necessary ingredient for certifying Halal in the preparation of food materials. The religious scholars took the above view by interpreting holy texts and its valid interpretations. However, different views were also expressed by a section of religious leaders. In view of the recent controversy as regards spitting on food materials to make it Halal and the responses from religious scholars, people at large are highly anxious and obnoxious on the use of Halal certified food materials even for household purposes. It is highly disheartening to see that the food materials prepared following the rituals and religious practices of another religion with its certification is accepted as food material for the preparation of Nivedyam/Prasada in a Hindu temple having its own rituals and customs.”
Alt News has received several requests to fact-check this claim on our WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160). The message has been forwarded many times on WhatsApp.
Alt News used the social media tool CrowdTangle and found the above-mentioned tweet thread was shared on several pages/groups with a high follower count. Some of these accounts are Tamil-language page Shrines-Glories-Pilgrimages [1 lakh followers]; I support Pushpendra Kulshrestha [over 1 lakh followers] Hindu Unity [over 1.5 lakh followers]; The Patriots (Bharat) [over 30K followers]; Eternal Bharat [over 20K followers]; Hindu (official) [over 15K followers].
Indu Makkal Katchi’s opening tweet also includes a seven-second clip that shows a Muslim cook spitting or blowing on dough. Readers should note that in the past year several such videos have been shared along with the claim that Muslims are conspiring against Hindus. Anti-Muslim disinformation campaigns during the COVID-19 outbreak last year had sparked the claim that Muslims have been “spitting” on food.
A keyword search reveals that the excerpt in the Bar and Bench screenshot is from a report on a November 27 hearing in Kerala High court — S. J. R. Kumar vs The Travancore Devaswom Board & Ors. The Bar and Bench article recognises the excerpt as part of a “plea” — highlighted in red in the screenshot below. Therefore, members of the Muslim community did not make the claim but the petitioner SJR Kumar did.
The opening lines of the excerpt are, “It is submitted that the Sabarimala Devaswom Administration also failed to take care of the practices and rituals at Sabarimala Temple by permitting Halal certified Jaggery for preparation of Nivedyam.” The image below compares the excerpt in the viral screenshot with the longer excerpt in the plea. The text highlighted in yellow in the plea is the same as in the viral screenshot.
The writ petition alleged that Sabrimala Temple is using Halal certified jaggery in their prasad. The petitioner alleges, “The actions on the part of the Temple administration are highly illegal and violative of religious rights guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution of India.”
The News Minute covered this incident in detail. TNM reported that Kumar was the former President of Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Kerala.
The report added, “On November 18, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), which manages the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala, told the court that the jaggery received by it had ‘halal’ mentioned on the packaging as they are also exported to Arab countries by the company supplying to them.”
It also said that the division bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar advised Kumar to understand the concept of halal properly. The court said, “The concept of halal only says that certain things are prohibited; all other things are halal. This certification only says that those prohibited materials are not included in a particular product.”
TDB chief and senior CPI(M) leader K Ananthagopan dismissed the allegations. He told The Indian Express, “In 2018, a Maharashtra-based company supplied jaggery for Sabarimala. The firm was engaged in exporting jaggery and these export bags mentioned halal certification. As those bags were found to be of inferior quality, we hadn’t used that supply at the temple. The allegation is baseless and we will take legal action,’’ he said.
To sum it up, Indu Makkal Katchi shared a screenshot of a petitioner’s statement with the false claim that members of the Muslim community accepted that spitting is necessary for Halal in Islam.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th December 2021 / 6:19 pm
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"author": "Archit"
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1,628 |
Inflammatory, fake post claims Christian man burned alive for converting Hindus in Nepal - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
3rd May 2018 / 6:03 pm / Last updated: 11th July 2018
ये नजारा नेपाल का है। ये एक इसाई था जो वहा के हिन्दुओ को बहला फुसलाकर उनका धर्म बदलवाकर उन्हे इसाई बनाता था। साले का पता चलते ही बीच चोराहे पर जला दिया वहा के हिन्दुओ ने। ऐसा हमारे हिन्दुस्तान मे भी हो रहा है इसको जल्दी नही रोका गया तो हिन्दु धर्म खतरे मे पड सकता है। (This image is from Nepal. He was a christian who was luring Hindus and converting them. Hindus there burnt him alive on the street. This is happening in India as well and if not stopped, Hindu religion will be in danger) (translated). This message which implicitly calls for violence and street justice against a religious minority is accompanied with a disturbing image of a man who has been stripped and tied to a stake. He can be seen screaming as the fire begins to engulf his legs.
ये नजारा नेपाल का है। ये एक इसाई था जो वहा के हिन्दुओ को बहला फुसलाकर उनका धर्म बदलवाकर उन्हे इसाई बनाता था। साले का पता…
Posted by सौगंध राम की खाते है हम मंदिर वही बनाएंगे on Wednesday, May 2, 2018
This image along with the message is circulating on social media, particularly on Facebook. The page Saugandh Ram ki khate hain hum mandir wahi banayenge which has over 500,000 followers posted this image on May 2, 2018 and has been shared close to a thousand times. We scanned Facebook to find other instances and interestingly, we discovered that this image with the same claim had circulated back in 2014 as well. For instance, a little known Facebook page Hindu Rakshak Dal had posted this image in November 2014, openly calling for violence with the message नेपाल में एक इसाई युवक हिन्दुओ को बहका कर इसाई बना रहा था जिसे वहा के हिन्दुओ ने जिन्दा जला दिया ..क्या हमारे देश में ऐसा नहीं हो सकता ??? क्या नेपाल के हिन्दुओ से हम कम ताकतवर है ??? (A Christian youth in Nepal was converting Hindu youth, he was burnt alive by Hindus there. Can this not happen in our country? Are we less powerful than the Hindus of Nepal?) (translated).
The unimpressive share count of these posts was compensated by the sheer number of pages, groups and individual users which had shared it. In another context, the image was shared widely in 2014 with the claim that the person was burned alive for preaching the gospel, and with a call for prayer for preachers across the world. The photograph with the fake claim has now resurfaced on social media.
What is the truth?
The photograph of the man being set ablaze is not from Nepal but from Ecuador. The incident had most likely occurred in 2006, and the victim was a suspected thief who was caught by locals, tied to a stake and set on fire at Pelileo Grande, 75 miles south of the capital Quito. The incident was reported by the U.K based news publication The Daily Mail. According to the report, the person was rescued with the intervention of the local priest and some villagers. This photograph has been circulating online for several years. In a different context, it was alleged that this man had been burnt alive as part of the Islamic (Sharia) law.
Alt News monitors social media on a daily basis and comes across countless instances of misinformation/disinformation with communal overtones wherein photos and videos are taken out of context. The dominant narrative with regard to such messages is harassment, violence and persecution faced by one religious sect at the hands of another religious community, and a call for sectarian unity against such ‘injustice’, often in favour of a political party or leader. However, this instance is particularly sinister and alarming as it tacitly endorses the use of violence and brutality against religious minorities.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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3rd May 2018 / 6:03 pm / Last updated: 11th July 2018
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"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
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UP govt's fact-checking wing falsely claims photos of unemployed workers not from state - Alt News
Abhishek Kumar
19th January 2022 / 11:32 pm
On January 16, news agency ANI UP/Uttarakhand posted a tweet about migrant workers facing distress due to COVID-19. It quoted one worker as saying, “We don’t have any work as companies are closed due to the curfew. We are not getting any ration from the government as we did in the first lockdown. The poor man is finished, poverty isn’t.” (Archive link)
Noida, Uttar Pradesh | “We don’t have any work as companies are closed due to the curfew. We are not getting any ration by the govt as we did in the 1st lockdown. The poor man is finished, not poverty” says a migrant worker, amid COVID restrictions in Noida pic.twitter.com/OlgeDP1G5j
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 16, 2022
ANI later clarified in an additional tweet that no curfews had been announced and this was a verbatim statement by the worker.
The UP government’s fact-checking wing shared a screenshot of ANI’s initial tweet and wrote that the images that show displaced workers are not from the state.
#InfoUPFactCheck: सोशल मीडिया प्लेटफॉर्म पर मजदूरों के लॉकडाउन में भटकने व भोजन न मिलने की फोटो वायरल की जा रही है।
संबंधित अधिकारियों द्वारा जानकारी दी गई है कि यह फोटो उत्तर प्रदेश की नहीं है। यह झूठ फैलाया जा रहा है। भ्रामक सूचनाओं को सोशल मीडिया पर प्रसारित करने से बचें। pic.twitter.com/tO2X3tiPm1
— Info Uttar Pradesh Fact Check (@InfoUPFactCheck) January 16, 2022
We noticed that ANI also had also published a related report on its website. The headline of the report reads, “Not everybody can afford to work from home, say daily wagers waiting for assignments in Noida amid COVID restrictions.”
As per the report, this was the state of affairs at Noida’s Khoda Labour Chowk where ANI spoke to four daily wage workers. Outlets including Economic Times, Latestly, Lokmat Times, India Gazette and DelhiNews.net also carried reports based on ANI’s reportage.
ANI UP/Uttarakhand had shared four images in its Twitter thread. (Archive link) In one of the images, we can see certain buildings and landmarks.
Taking these as a clue, we performed a keyword search on YouTube and came across a video report by The Mojo Story on migrant workers. The visuals in this clip resemble that of the images in ANI’s tweet. “Daily wage casual and migrant labourers engaged in all kinds of professions crowd the Labour Chowk junction every day, hoping to be given some work. Since the pandemic began, these workers have been struggling to meet their daily needs,” according to The Mojo Story.
Alt News spoke to a local resident to pinpoint the exact location. He shared with us some photos where a sign of the Noida Defence Academy can be seen clearly.
Alt News also used Google Maps to verify this. Below, the locations of Noida’s Labour Chowk bus stand and the Noida Defence Academy have been marked.
We also found some additional images in a Google review of the Labour Chowk location. The buildings seen here resemble those in the stills from the ANI tweet very closely.
To sum it up, images shared by ANI which the UP government’s fact-checking arm alleged were not from the state were indeed taken in Noida.
Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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19th January 2022 / 11:32 pm
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"author": "Abhishek Kumar"
}
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Inhaling camphor, lavang, ajwain and eucalyptus oil DOES NOT increase blood oxygen level - Alt News
Ronak Borana
18th April 2021 / 1:33 pm / Last updated: 18th April 2021
A viral message widely shared across WhatsApp and Twitter suggests that inhaling the vapour of camphor, lawang, ajwain and eucalyptus oil can increase blood oxygen level and even relieve respiratory distress. Alt News Science found that there is no scientific basis to support this claim. Instead, sniffing the mixture can cause camphor poisoning, which in some cases is life-threatening.
Union Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had shared the claim on Facebook amid rising COVID-19 cases.
सेहत की पोटली 👍💐
Posted by Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi मुख्तार अब्बास नकवी on Saturday, 17 April 2021
The claim has also been shared by social media users.
Viral text in English: “Camphor, lavang, ajwain, few drops eucalyptus oil. Make potli and keep smelling it throughout the day. This helps increase oxygen levels and congestion. This potli is given to tourists in Ladakh when oxygen levels are low. It’s a home remedy.
Viral text in Hindi: “कपूर, लौंग और अजवाइन का मिश्रण बनाकर इसमें कुछ बूंदे नीलगिरी के तेल की मिलाकर इस तरह की पोटली बना लें और अपने दिन भर के कामकाज के दौरान बीच बीच में सूँघते रहे…यह ऑक्सिजन लेवल बनाये रखने में मदद करता है..! इस तरह की पोटली लद्दाख में पर्यटकों को दी जाती है जब ऑक्सीजन लेवल कम हो..!”
1. Camphor (Karpur)
Camphor is a flammable white crystalline substance that has a strong aromatic odour. It is sometimes rubbed on the skin to reduce pain and itching.
It is also used in topical nasal decongestant gels like Vicks VapoRub in small quantities (4-5%) but the evidence on its efficacy is mixed. Some older studies have found that camphor and eucalyptus have no effect on nasal decongestion.
Nevertheless, blood oxygen saturation decreases in severe COVID-19 infections because of the lungs and lower respiratory tract damage and has little to do with nasal blockage. Similarly, another research suggests that reliving nasal obstruction doesn’t improve depressed oxygen saturation.
Inhalation or ingestion of uncalibrated doses of non-medicinal camphor can lead to severe toxicity within a few minutes of exposure, especially in children.
As per the American Association of Poison Control Center’s report, in the year 2018, there were around 9,500 cases of camphor poisoning in the USA, 10 of which were life-threatening and caused significant disability. FDA advises against doses of 11% or more C=camphor as it can cause toxicity and result in severe seizures.
The US’s Center for Disease Control (CDC) has extensive toxicity data that shows that camphor exposure causes significant impairment in animals.
As per CDC’s guidelines, inhalation of camphor vapours can lead to nose, throat and eye irritation. It can cause seizures, mental confusion, stomach ache and in higher concentration, it can also lead to death in some cases. There are several reported cases in India of poisoning caused by camphor vapour inhalation.
2. Clove (Lavang)
This claim is based on a single literature review from Italy that hypothesizes the possible anti-SARS-CoV-2 effects of cloves. However, the research cited within this review is based on the herpes simplex virus and is unrelated to SARS-CoV-2. The cited research is based on a compound eugenol which is found in cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and basil and is linked with toxicity. Although the pure extract of eugenol is not recommended in this viral text, clove vapour alone may be toxic but there is no research to suggest it can increase blood oxygen or relieve respiratory distress.
3. Carom seeds (Ajwain) and Eucalyptus oil
For both substances above, there is no research or evidence to suggest that they increase blood oxygen or relieve respiratory distress.
Other versions of the WhatsApp forward also attribute the message to ayurvedic practitioner Prajagraj Dabhi who supposedly treated COVID-19 patients with the formulation. Dabhi has rejected this claim.
Yet other versions also claim that ambulances are using this formulation on COVID-19 patients. But no such treatment guidelines are mentioned in Health Ministry’s protocol for COVID-19 ambulances.
There is no proof that camphor, clove or carom seeds increase blood oxygen or provide relief during respiratory distress. These may work as a ‘feel good’ therapy during mild respiratory infections or inflammatory sinusitis. Suggesting that they can increase the blood oxygen level in COVID patients can cause people to rely on the home remedy and not take medical help. Sniffing the mixture can also cause camphor poisoning, which may be life-threatening in some cases.
Ronak is a science communicator based in Mumbai
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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18th April 2021 / 1:33 pm / Last updated: 18th April 2021
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Is INS Kalvari a product of PM Modi's 'Make in India' as claimed by Defence Ministry? - Alt News
Arjun Sidharth
14th December 2017 / 11:02 pm / Last updated: 14th December 2017
On December 14 2017, Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially commissioned INS Kalvari. The first of the Scorpene class of submarines, INS Kalvari was inducted with much fanfare after extensive sea trials by the navy were a success. The Defence Minister through her official twitter handle a day before on December 13 celebrated the induction as a success of Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri @narendramodi will dedicate naval submarine INS Kalvari to the nation tomorrow at Mumbai.
Smt @nsitharaman will be present at the ceremony.
INS Kalvari represents a success of PMs “#MakeInIndia” initiative.https://t.co/dHOzBVH0nK pic.twitter.com/tqDSOYhCZZ
— Raksha Mantri (@DefenceMinIndia) December 13, 2017
Prime Minister Modi in his speech hailed the induction of Kalvari as an ‘excellent example of Make in India’. He said,
“Induction of INS Kalvari in the Indian Navy is a big step taken by us in the direction of national security. This is the best example of ‘Make in India'”
After almost 20 years, India is getting such a submarine; it is a privilege for me to dedicate #INSKalvari to the country: PM @narendramodi @indiannavy @DefenceMinIndia @SpokespersonMoD pic.twitter.com/ekBBCkiKWF
— Doordarshan News (@DDNewsLive) December 14, 2017
On his twitter handle, PM Modi reiterated that the commissioning of the submarine was illustrative of the success of ‘Make in India’
Commissioning of INS Kalvari is an occasion of great pride. It illustrates the success of @makeinindia and adds strength to our defence capabilities. pic.twitter.com/oVg6wlSwJM
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 14, 2017
How true is this claim made by the official handle of the Defence Minister that INS Kalvari is a product of PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative? Alt News conducted a quick fact check on the claim and here is what we found:
Further details about the submarine can be read in this press release by the Press Information Bureau dated December 13, 2017.
INS Kalvari is a Scorpene-class submarine which is the first of six diesel-electric attack submarines that India is constructing under the programme which is known as Project 75. The submarines have been designed by the French naval defence and energy company DCNS and are being constructed by Mazgaon Docks Ltd. in Mumbai under a technology transfer agreement. The Scorpene deal was finalised by India and France in 2005.
The Scorpene deal was signed between the two countries with an agreement for transfer of technology, which made it possible for an Indian shipbuilding company to commence production. The technology transfer agreement came as a shot in the arm for the indigenous defence industry and a huge fillip for defence manufacturing. In April 2013, France’s ambassador to India Francois Richier had said, “The first submarine would be ready by 2014, heralding an important and strategic tie-up between both the nations on the defence front. It is a full transfer of technology, something we don’t do with everybody. Defence component of India-French relations is very important to us”.
The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September 2014 with the objective of making India a global hub of manufacturing. While it is a commendable initiative and a continuation of the National Manufacturing Policy of 2011, the construction of the Kalvari-class submarines was initiated in 2006 following the agreement between India and France in 2005. It is correct that the submarine is being constructed in India by Mazgaon Docks Ltd., a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of the Govt of India. However, the programme does not technically fall under the ‘Make in India’ initiative which is the brainchild of the NDA government, as claimed by the Defence Minister.
Arjun Sidharth is a writer with Alt News. He has previously worked in the television news industry, where he managed news bulletins and breaking news scenarios, apart from scripting numerous prime time television stories. He has also been actively involved with various freelance projects. Sidharth has studied economics, political science, international relations and journalism. He has a keen interest in books, movies, music, sports, politics, foreign policy, history and economics. His hobbies include reading, watching movies and indoor gaming.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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14th December 2017 / 11:02 pm / Last updated: 14th December 2017
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"author": "Arjun Sidharth"
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Inside the world of scripted 'CCTV' videos on Facebook - Alt News
Archit
9th June 2022 / 9:04 pm / Last updated: 10th June 2022
Earlier this year, novelist Paulo Coelho tweeted a video from India. The video allegedly shows CCTV footage wherein a physically challenged person is trying to reset a tricycle’s chain on a busy street. He is clearly struggling with it yet no one offers help. However, two school children see his plight and help him. Not only this, they also helped the person hop on his tricycle.
Coelho wrote, “Two boys from India to brighten your complicated day.” This video gained over two million views. A quick glance at the replies reveals many people believe that the video shows true-life events. However, this video is staged and several others have pointed it out as well.
Two boys from India to brighten your complicated day pic.twitter.com/KfVep2IwAv
— Paulo Coelho (@paulocoelho) February 25, 2022
Coelho is not the first influential personality to have posted such a video. We found that there has been a drastic increase in the number of such posts after December 2020. The screenshot below is from the social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle. [If you have access to CrowdTangle, you can view the search result here.]
In the past two years, several verified Facebook accounts have posted staged drama clips. These videos offer a feel-good or a seemingly important public service message on wide-ranging topics such as child kidnapping, mobile usage or being wary of friends at parties. The table below shows the top 19 most viewed staged dramas posted by verified Facebook accounts in India.
What appears to be positive and uplifting content has become a part of a problematic trend. Since people believe these videos are true-life, many of the clips are being shared with distorted context mainly targeting the Indian Muslim community. In October 2021, we published our first fact-check report on this phenomenon. Hariom Rajawat, a supporter of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, shared such a staged video as genuine and claimed that a Muslim youth was planning to rape his Hindu friend by mixing an intoxicant in her drink. Since then, Alt News has published 10 reports that debunk misinformation around staged ‘CCTV’ videos — half of them targeting Muslims. [View spreadsheet]
Despite several giveaways that the video cannot be real, many people continue to fall for such videos. Why is that? Disingenuous disclaimer. In order to ensure that Facebook’s policies are not violated, the accounts add a “disclaimer” in the video’s description or in the final few frames in the video clip. Let’s inspect these disclaimers more closely.
Disingenuous video description
Nearly all such videos are posted with click-bait title, which includes emojis. Some examples are – ‘This is Amazing ❤️❤️🙏🙏,’ Don’t Judge So Quickly ❤️❤️🙏🏻🙏🏻, and ‘Be Careful 😨😨🙏🏻🙏🏻’. The screenshot below lists more such examples.
In order to view the disclaimer before watching the video, one has to click up on ‘See More button’ in the video description. The disclaimer is typically in English only. As a result, anyone who isn’t fluent in English will not realise that the video in question doesn’t show a true-life incident.
The video below shows how a viewer must click on the ‘See more’ button in order to view the disclaimer.
Disingenuous video disclaimer
This disclaimer — “Thank you for watching! Please be aware that this page features scripted dramas and parodies as well. These short films are for entertainment & educational purposes only” — appears for merely a second and in a font so tiny that it can barely be read. The video below shows the last few seconds of a staged drama video. In case you missed the disclaimer, it’s not your fault. Watch the video again on full screen and focus right below the prayer hands.
The slideshow below shows a few comments posted under the staged drama videos with over 100 million views. While some people can spot that this video is not genuine, an overwhelming majority of people think that the videos show true-life incidents.
Such videos are also being shared on job hunting portals like LinkedIn. Gurudutt Biswal, a leading PR professional who has been listed PR30 under 30 in 2021 and 2020, told Alt News, “The videos cater to the human need to sympathise with the ones who are needy. I feel these videos are being shared purely for clout even though they are fabricated. To me, it seems like LinkedIn users post these videos to increase online engagement. However, many are monetising by posting such videos on Facebook.”
Using CrowdTangle, we found which accounts post such videos. The data below focuses on verified accounts only.
On the company’s website, we noticed a Twitter link that directs to the profile of one Basanth Jain whose bio states he is the agent for Jwala Gutta and other celebrities. Alt News attempted to reach out to Jwala via Twitter to seek her rationale behind posting staged videos on her profile. We didn’t hear back from her. Over a telephonic call with a member of LemonadePR, we learned these videos are being monetised. The employee also clarified that the company does not make these videos, but outsources them. When we asked them to identify the company, they said, “We have a non-disclosure agreement.”
We also contacted a Facebook spokesperson to enquire if the social media giant can take action against accounts posting staged videos that are later picked up and shared with communal claims. The spokesperson replied, “On your email regarding scripted videos, the team did an internal investigation and (as anticipated and shared during our call last week that videos have a disclaimer) found them to be non-violating.”
To sum it up, the menace of staged drama videos on Facebook will continue. Next time you come across videos showing CCTV “expose”, don’t forget to check the description of the clip by clicking on the “read more” button.
🙏 Blessed to have worked as a fact-checking journalist from November 2019 to February 2023.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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9th June 2022 / 9:04 pm / Last updated: 10th June 2022
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"author": "Archit"
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Install 'Indian' Telegram, delete 'American' WhatsApp - Old fake viral message in circulation again - Alt News
Pratik Sinha
7th June 2017 / 8:44 pm
On May 26, BJP’s DN Ramesh, a corporator of ward number 142 (Sunkanahalli) in Bangalore, posted a status update on his Facebook page requesting people to delete WhatsApp and start using an alternative messaging service called Telegram. His post claimed that Whatsapp is a product of an American company while Telegram is an Indian product and in order to promote ‘Made In India’, it was important to use Telegram instead of WhatsApp.
An identical version of the above message is being shared by many on WhatsApp and Social Media.
This message has many factual inaccuracies, the foremost being Telegram is not by an Indian company. Telegram was founded by two Russian brothers Nikolai and Pavel Durov and was originally based in Berlin. It is registered both as an American Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Partnership in UK. Clearly, nothing Indian about the company. Following is an extract from Wikipedia’s article on Telegram.
Thus, the most basic premise that Telegram is an Indian company and should be installed to promote Make in India is incorrect. Moreover, WhatsApp announced in January 2016 that it will forever be a free service and will not charge any subscription fees. Hence, the claim about money going out to an American company in form of subscription fees is also incorrect. Lastly, forwarding messages on WhatsApp never leads to any kind of financial award unless you are in a political party’s IT Cell and that is your job.
This message first became viral in May 2014, soon after Mr Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister and had been debunked as fake back then. However, just as we have seen how fake videos keep circulating for over 2 years, these fake WhatsApp forwards seem to be immortal as well.
Co-Founder Alt News, I can be reached via E-mail at [email protected] and on Facebook at https://fb.com/freethinker.
Follow @free_thinker
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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7th June 2017 / 8:44 pm
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"url": "https://www.altnews.in/englishclone/install-indian-telegram-delete-american-whatsapp-old-fake-viral-message-circulation/",
"author": "Pratik Sinha"
}
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Int'l and Indian media fall for fake Twitter account in Kabul Uni chancellor's name - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
1st October 2021 / 7:25 pm / Last updated: 1st October 2021
A piece of news that made headlines on September 27 around the world claimed that the chancellor of Kabul University Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat said in a tweet, “As long as a real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.”
The New York Times reported on the alleged tweet, based on which Pakistan-based The News also carried a report.
Below is the tweet in question.
Folks!
I give you my words as the chancellor of Kabul University:
as long as real Islamic environment is not provided for all, women will not be allowed to come to universities or work. Islam first.
— Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat محمد اشرف غیرت (@MAshrafGhairat) September 27, 2021
The tweet seemed to suggest that the Islamist extremist organisation has taken a reversal from its earlier stand on women’s education stated by the Taliban education minister Abdul Baqi Haqqani. He had said that women will be allowed to study in gender-segregated classrooms and Islamic dress.
ABC News and NPR furthered on the story claiming that Ghairat issued a second tweet, criticising The New York Times for what he described as a “bad misunderstanding” of his comments.
The alleged tweet is added below.
A bad misunderstanding of my words by the New York Times. I haven’t said that we will never allow women to attend universities or go to work, I meant that until we create an Islamic environment, women will have to stay at home. We work hard to creat safe Islamic environment soon. https://t.co/7Yrdtd3GKL
— Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat محمد اشرف غیرت (@MAshrafGhairat) September 28, 2021
Other international publications that carried stories claiming Ghairat tweeted that women will not be allowed to come to universities or work if an Islamic environment is not provided were CNN International, CNN Philippines, UK-based The Independent and American publications The Hill and Bloomberg. The article by Bloomberg was republished by Business Standard in India. India Today also referred to Bloomberg’s story.
ANI and Hindustan Times referred to the CNN article while reporting on the development. NDTV and Lokmat republished ANI’s feed. Other Indian media outlets that based their reports on the alleged tweet were The Print, Yahoo News, Deccan Herald and The Week.
Kabul University, in an elaborate Facebook post, clarified, “Recently, as can be seen, a series of virtual fake pages have been created on Facebook or Twitter called Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat, the Chancellor of Kabul University, and they have been disseminating fake news, misinformation and rumors in order to confuse and mislead the public opinion and academic community. Kabul University falsifies all these pages in Facebook or twitter in the name of Mohammad Ashraf Ghirat and clearly declares that Mohammad Ashraf Ghirat does not have virtual pages in his name. All compatriots and national or international media who want to get information about Kabul University are requested to refer to the official web site and Facebook pages of this university. [sic]”
اطلاعیه پوهنتون کابل در رابطه به صفحات مجازی جعلی!
در این اواخر طوریکه دیده میشود یک سلسله صفحات مجازی در فیسبوک ویا…
Posted by Kabul University on Tuesday, 28 September 2021
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Higher Education also clarified on Facebook that the account is fake.
اطلاعیه پوهنتون کابل در رابطه به صفحات مجازی جعلی!
در این اواخر طوریکه دیده میشود یک سلسله صفحات مجازی در فیسبوک ویا…
Posted by وزارت تحصيلات عالى – لوړو زده کړو وزارت on Tuesday, 28 September 2021
The person later tweeted that he is a 20-year-old student of law and political science at Kabul University. “All these days that I was tweeting pretending to be the new chancellor, no one doubted my words to be fake, & the reason is clear, what I was saying is literally both the ideology and actions of Taliban towards education, human and women rights in Afghanistan [sic],” he wrote.
students of KU, are disheartened and broken.
All these days that I was tweeting pretending to be the new chancellor, no one doubted my words to be fake, & the reason is clear, what I was saying is literally both the ideology and actions of Taliban towards education, human and
— Mohammad Ashraf Ghairat محمد اشرف غیرت (@KabulUniWatch) September 29, 2021
The alleged student told UAE-based The National News that he set up the account to highlight the undoing of Afghan education. The outlet also wrote that “while his decision to set up the fake account was driven in part by his frustration, it was also a desire to prove a point about the Taliban”. Nobody doubted what he was tweeting.
After it was brought to light that the account posting the tweets was not handled by Ashraf Ghirat, a few media organisations added clarifications to their stories. This included The New York Times, CNN International (it’s noteworthy that CNN Philippines has not issued any corrigendum) and The Quint. Republic and Deccan Herald took down its report without acknowledging the error. Reports by all other outlets highlighted in this report have neither been corrected nor removed as of this writing.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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1st October 2021 / 7:25 pm / Last updated: 1st October 2021
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Invention of bicycle credited to ancient India based on misleading photos - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
23rd November 2019 / 6:22 pm
A photograph of a wall carving showing a figure riding a bicycle is being shared with the claim that this is at Panchavarnaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu’s Tiruchirappalli city. The temple is dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva. Facebook user Narayana Murthy Gollapati while posting the image along with a separate collage of the carving claimed, “Who invented a cycle, a remote? Was there any astronaut in our country some 2000 years back? Answer, see the scultupters at Panchavarnaswamy Temple.” The message hypothesised, “There is a bicycle, an astronaut and a remote is carved in temple walls. And the modern science says that bicycle is invented some 200 years ago in Europe by McMillan.”
It is being argued on social media that inventions like the bicycle credited to inventors of European origin were long discovered in India some 2000 years ago. Many other Facebook users shared the same claim with the photographs.
By reverse searching the first image on Google, Alt News found that the carving is on the Balinese temple Pura Maduwe Karang (Temple of Land-owner) located in Kubutambahan of Bali Province, Indonesia. According to the caption given to a Getty Images photo, the carving depicts Dutch Artist WOJ Nieuwnkamp. You can see the other image of the same carving here.
Author David Shavit in his 2003 book Bali and the Tourist Industry writes, “He explored the northern part of the island by bicycle to the amusement of the Balinese people, who had never seen such a thing. A stone relief immortalizing Nieuwenkamp riding his bike, which can still be seen in a little North Balinese village of Kubutambahan, shows how deeply the Balinese were impressed by the novelty.”
A cursory look at the second image reveals a watermark of SMHoaxSlayer, a fact-checking outlet, on the image. Starting from the image on the extreme left in the collage, this an actual carving in the Panchavarnaswamy Temple.
The claim gained popularity after Vlogger Praveen Mohan published a video showing the carving in the temple while hypothesizing it as “Advanced Ancient Technology Proved?”. UK Media outlets- Daily Star & Mirror– published articles days after the video was uploaded on the Internet.
However, Dr Kalaikovan, an ophthalmologist who was the brain behind a historical research centre based in Tiruchirappalli, gave a logical explanation for the carving’s existence in the Chola-era temple. As told to The Hindu, he was invited by the priest of the temple for a thanksgiving prayer after he conducted a successful cataract operation on him. Seeing the carving of a cycle in an ancient temple, he found it funny and intriguing “but neither the officials nor the scholars who wrote its history were able to explain how it came there.”
After studying the history of the bicycle and Chola-period Woraiyur temple, Dr Kalaikovan theorised that the vehicle was possibly a novelty in the city in the1920s when the temple was renovated. “Perhaps the sculptor had seen someone on a cycle, was impressed by it and had recorded it forever on stone,” explained Dr Kalaikovan to the media outlet.
An image of a supposed mobile phone carved in the wall is placed in the middle. With a Google reverse image search of the image, Alt News found a 2009 blog which identified the carving to be from Calahorra Cathedral in Spain’s La Rioja province.
According to a 2017 article by Spanish website Infolibre, the cathedral was restored in the 1990s. A stonemason, who was part of the Cathedral’s restoration process, sculpted a mobile phone, which is believed to inspired by Nokia models in 1990s. As Ángel Ortega, the archivist of the Cathedral summarized, “The explanation he gave was that the same as in Salamanca they put an astronaut, with the same authority, why I can’t put an instrument that I use at all hours (-Google translated)”
The image, on the right side of the photo-collage, is an astronaut carved on the wall. This stone carving also belongs to a cathedral in Spain’s Salamanca city.
The Cathedral of Salamanca refers to two churches joined together. One is the old cathedral which dates to 12th-13th Centuries while the new cathedral is from the 16th century, according to Spain’s official tourism website. In 2016, Spanish daily El Comercio stated that a stonemason named Miguel Romero carved an astronaut into the stone during the cathedral’s restoration work in 1992. Jerónimo García, the chief restorer, in a 1994 interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais, said, “Yes. Our stonemason sculpted an astronaut in the cathedral of Salamanca as a symbol of this century.” It is worthwhile to note that the mobile carving on the Calahorra cathedral was inspired by Romero’s astronaut. You can watch the astronaut carved in Salamanca cathedral in the below video.
Out of the four stone carving claimed to be from Tamil Nadu’s Panchavarnaswamy Temple, three are not even from India. Dr Kalaikovan, who has researched on the temple history, has linked the bicycle-riding-man sculpture with the time when the structure was renovated in the 1920s.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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23rd November 2019 / 6:22 pm
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"author": "Jignesh Patel"
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Investigating the masked woman photographed during JNU violence - Alt News
Jignesh Patel, Pratik Sinha & Mohammed Zubair
10th January 2020 / 7:25 pm / Last updated: 12th January 2020
Late in the evening of January 5, a mob wielding sticks and iron rods stormed hostels of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. Most individuals who were a part of the mob had their faces covered. Soon after, videos and images of the incident began doing the rounds on social media. In the video below, several masked individuals can be seen inside a hostel.
Horrible videos coming out from JNU. In this, a horde of alleged ABVP goons unleashing terror inside Sabarmati hostel, JNU.#JNU #CAA_NRCProtests pic.twitter.com/YZNxtcvKut
— Asim Ali (@AsimAli6) January 5, 2020
One of the individuals was alleged to be Komal Sharma, a member with RSS-affiliated ABVP’s Delhi chapter. A Facebook user claimed, “The girl who is found on multiple videos vandalising JNU Girls Hostel is Komal Sharma. She is from Delhi University ABVP unit.”
The girl who is found on multiple videos vandalising JNU Girls Hostel is Komal Sharma. She is from Delhi University ABVP…
Posted by Reetam Singh on Sunday, 5 January 2020
An Instagram user Anuja Thakur posted a screen recording of an Instagram conversation with a person whose name on the platform reads – ‘komal❤sharma😎 ABVP ❤️’. The corresponding username being ’26_saravashisth’. Thakur claimed that the conversation was with Sharma, the woman alleged to be part of the mob. In the screen recording which has an audio clip, Sharma is confirming her presence in the campus during the incident. Alt News was unable to access the said Instagram account as it may have been deleted or deactivated.
View this post on Instagram
Komal Sharma Student Activist from ABVP was my junior in college as well as in school. Last night I messaged her just to confirm the fact if she was there at JNU campus or not but I asked her indirectly starting from that ‘I saw you today at Munirka’ and ‘if she was wearing red white checkered shirt’ and her admission to all my questions (which were my urges to confirm her presence there at the campus) with the following audio in which she says ‘Didi, please kisiko matt batana’ is the legal evidence that she is the same person as in the pictures that were leaked yesterday confirming the fact that she was the girl with the iron stick in the “unidentified mobs”. I screen recorded her audio and chat as her Instagram account is no longer found. Share this as much as you can. #goonsofabvp @reallyswara @umar_khalid87 @youthkiawaaz @kanhaiyakumar @ravishndtv @peeinghuman @unbhakt @akashbanerjee.in @mallikadua @anuragkashyap10 @vidushak
A post shared by Anuja Thakur (@anujathakur30) on Jan 6, 2020 at 2:38am PST
In her detailed post, Thakur wrote, “Komal Sharma Student Activist from ABVP was my junior in college as well as in school. Last night I messaged her just to confirm the fact if she was there at JNU campus or not but I asked her indirectly starting from that ‘I saw you today at Munirka’ and ‘if she was wearing red white checkered shirt’ and her admission to all my questions (which were my urges to confirm her presence there at the campus) with the following audio in which she says ‘Didi, please kisiko matt batana’ is the legal evidence that she is the same person as in the pictures that were leaked yesterday confirming the fact that she was the girl with the iron stick in the “unidentified mobs”. I screen recorded her audio and chat as her Instagram account is no longer found.”
The video of the conversation can be seen below.
Speaking with Alt News, Thakur reiterated that she interacted with Sharma from her Instagram account.
Apoorv Thakur, brother of Anuja Thakur, posted the same on Facebook. In his post, he shared an additional screenshot which shows Sharma responding to Anuja Thakur’s question as to why she has become a topic of conversation on social media. In her response, Sharma sent the viral picture alleged to be hers.
Alt News was able to independently confirm that the Instagram account seen in the video is of ABVP activist Komal Sharma. But ‘@26_Saravashisth’ is either deactivated or deleted at the moment. However, we were able to find an archived version of the profile. Below, we have compared a screenshot of the Instagram handle and profile picture seen in the video with a screenshot of the archived version.
Sharma’s Facebook profile which goes by the name ‘Komal Sharma ABVP’ is also inaccessible at the moment. Although, her old Facebook profile and a barely active Twitter handle (Sara Vashisth) which share the name given on her Instagram account confirm her identity. Both the accounts existed at least a year ago and have an image of Komal Sharma in the profile picture. In the case of her Facebook profile, the profile picture dates back to July 2017.
We located two more accounts of Sharma – Facebook, Twitter – where she refers to herself as ‘Sara Vashisth’.
Komal Sharma had also tweeted in support of ABVP member Bharat Sharma who was caught on camera kicking a person. This tweet was made on December 18, 2019. “I support you bhai. Well done. You are a true brother. I am proud of you. For protecting me that day from those goons of the left,” she wrote. Now, this account too is deleted or deactivated. An archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Based on multiple corroborations, Alt News was able to establish that ABVP activist Komal Sharma was caught on camera in the viral video of masked individuals inside JNU campus.
[Update: After this report, Komal Sharma’s Twitter account was deactivated or deleted. Hence, a screenshot of the tweet was added later in the report in place of the embedded tweet.]
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news-altnews
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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10th January 2020 / 7:25 pm / Last updated: 12th January 2020
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"author": "Jignesh Patel, Pratik Sinha & Mohammed Zubair"
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Investigating Twitter handle 'Know The Nation' that shared Rahul Gandhi's clipped video - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
8th January 2019 / 4:32 pm
On January 6, Twitter handle Know The Nation (@knowthenation) tweeted a video of Rahul Gandhi addressing the Lok Sabha on the Rafale Deal. In the 9-second clip, the Congress President can be heard saying – “I have no proof so far, but I am very clear that the Prime Minister is directly involved.” This gave the impression that Gandhi was accusing PM Modi of corruption without any evidence. At the time of writing this article, Know The Nation’s video had nearly 1 million views. An archived version of its tweet can be accessed here.
“I have no proof so far, but I am very clear that the Prime Minister is directly involved”#RafaleDeal pic.twitter.com/54AUXcG7sz
— Know The Nation (@knowthenation) January 6, 2019
The clip is also viral on Facebook in varied languages. A page called Youth 4 BJP shared it in Hindi, gaining 67,000 views in just a couple of hours. Another page Hindustan shared the clip in Tamil.
The 9-second clip is viral on Twitter, circulated by many users followed by senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janta Party. One Mohan Sinha, who is followed by PM Modi, quote tweeted Know The Nation’s video saying that Rahul Gandhi’s “brain is missing a few vital screws.”
Another user who is followed by BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga shared the same video, attracting over 53,000 views.
Several handles followed by Railway Minister Piyush Goyal’s Office also tweeted the 9-second clip (1, 2, 3). A few others took a jibe at the Congress President based on the purported quote (1, 2, 3).
Know The Nation tweeted 9 seconds of a much longer video and placed Rahul Gandhi’s statement out of context. If one listens to his entire speech, Gandhi does not say, “I have no proof so far, but I am very clear that the Prime Minister is directly involved.” In fact, his statement was directed at Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He says that he does not have any proof so far of her involvement, but the Prime Minister is directly involved in the scam.
https://youtu.be/e8RLBVFrv5o?t=266
At 4:26 minutes in the full video, Gandhi can be heard saying – “Defense Minister said that we are accusing her…Madam I am not accusing you and I am not accusing Mr Parrikar. I am accusing Mr Narendra Modi. Let it be absolutely clear that you have done nothing other than try to defend a lie. So I do not think that you are involved in the Rafale scam. I have no proof so far to say that you are involved but I am very clear that the Prime Minister is directly involved in the Rafale scam.“
Know The Nation picked the last portion of Gandhi’s statement (highlighted above), clipped the part where he said – “to say that you are involved” – and presented his assertion as, “I have no proof so far, but I am very clear that the Prime Minister is directly involved.”
Know The Nation has been around on Twitter since December 2017. Despite a meagre follower count of a little over 2,500, it boasts a few prominent political personalities like Office of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal and BJP Delhi spokesperson Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga among its followers.
The craftily trimmed video of Rahul Gandhi’s speech owes its existence to the organisation behind the Twitter handle.
Last year, a company named BlueKraft Digital Foundation was linked for running a website called The True Picture, which is ironically described as a ‘data journalism and fact-checking portal’. It is a go-to website for several Union Ministers, including Textile Minister Smriti Irani, however, has been found spreading misinformation in the past.
The Indian Express had found that the website shared its landline telephone number with BlueKraft, which was the “technology and knowledge” partner to Prime Minister Modi’s book ‘Exam Warriors’. The company also published a book about PM Modi’s monthly radio broadcast, ‘Mann Ki Baat’, terming it a “social revolution on radio”.
In an April 2018 report, Boomlive had found several of BlueKraft’s employees directly associated with The True Picture.
BlueKraft is headed by Akhilesh Mishra, the former director of the BJP government’s online citizen engagement initiative ‘MyGov India’. When contacted by The Indian Express, Mishra had denied any links between his company and The True Picture.
BlueKraft’s association with the BJP seems to extend further. There is evidence of the company’s connection with three other pro-BJP propaganda platforms – New India Junction, Awemazing World and the protagonist of this story, Know The Nation.
A Senior Creative Director at BlueKraft, Nilesh Mistry, listed the handles as part of his responsibilities along with The True Picture and called them ‘in-house blogs’. His LinkedIn profile read – “Working on – Government of India’s various schemes print, outdoor and social media advertising. Inhouse blogs: New India Junction, Know The Nation, AwemaningWorld, The True Picture.” After the same was revealed on social media, he removed these references (except New India Junction) from his profile.
The evidence at hand exhibits the company’s links with multiple propaganda platforms, some of which also disseminate misinformation. Therefore, its apparent closeness with the BJP and the Prime Minister himself is a matter of concern. Alt News has reached out to Akhilesh Mishra for his comments. We will update our story upon receiving a response.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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8th January 2019 / 4:32 pm
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"author": "Pooja Chaudhuri"
}
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Iran Hijab row: Turkish TV drama scene shared as man dancing at daughter's last rites - Alt News
Abhishek Kumar
3rd October 2022 / 5:55 pm
On September 13, Iran’s ‘Morality Police’ arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini from Tehran for not wearing her hijab according to official dictates. Mehsa Amini died three days later, allegedly in police custody, on September 16. Following the incident, protests have been raging across Iran. According to a report by the Iran Human Rights Organization, 75 protesters have been killed by security forces so far.
Against this backdrop, a video of some people standing with coffins on their shoulders with a dancing elderly man in front of them is viral on social media. It is being claimed that a father had promised his daughter that he would dance at her wedding, but is now dancing on her grave. The daughter was purportedly killed by the Iranian regime for protesting against the killing of civilians over how they wore their hijabs.
Pakistani journalist Ahmed Quraishi shared the video, claiming that the man seen dancing in front of the coffin in the video was the father of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, whose death in police custody has sparked protests in Iran. (Archived link)
One of the saddest things you’ll see: #MahsaAmini‘s father dancing for his 22 year old daughter at her grave. She insisted he promise to dance on her wedding. He’s keeping his promise.#IranProtests2022 #IranRevolutionpic.twitter.com/ToYw61uzCp
— Ahmed Quraishi (@_AhmedQuraishi) October 1, 2022
Another user tweeted the video with a similar claim. It garnered over 4.5 lakh views as of this writing. (Archived link)
Heartbreaking 💔
Iranian father who promised to live long enough to dance at his daughter’s wedding ends up dancing at her funeral after she was killed by the Iranian morality police for not covering her hair#IranRevolution2022 #مهسا_امینی #koyapic.twitter.com/t8POVJiR4j
— Shukri Hamk (@Sh_q_y) September 28, 2022
Another user named Pallavi amplified the video claiming that it featured the father of a woman who was killed for protesting against the killing of civilians over hijabs. (Archived link)
The video is attracting a lot of traction on social media platforms in several countries. JK Rowling, author of the popular fantasy novel series Harry Potter, also retweeted the clip.
Alt News performed a keyword search related to the viral video, and found a tweet posted by Iran’s official news channel Press TV. In this tweet, the outlet dismissed the viral claim and added that this video was part of a Turkish drama named Ata Ocaği.
J. K Rowling has retweeted a fake viral video purportedly showing an Iranian father’s dance on the grave of his daughter who was killed in recent riots in Iran. In fact the video is part of a Turkish drama called Ata Ocaği. pic.twitter.com/Pfo4qvm0kh
— Press TV (@PressTV) September 30, 2022
This is a scene from the 78th episode of the Turkish drama Ata Ocaği. This video was uploaded on YouTube by a channel named Xəzər TV on January 9, 2018. Scenes from the viral video appear here between the 19:26 and 20:18 mark.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CGxBciEWws]
To sum it up, several social media users mistakenly shared a video of a Turkish drama with the false claim that the man dancing in front of a coffin was the father of a woman killed in the ongoing protests over the hijab in Iran.
Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
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Last week during the G20 summit in Bali, world leaders were informed of a missile…
Recently, several prominent BJP leaders claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had intervened to stop…
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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3rd October 2022 / 5:55 pm
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"author": "Abhishek Kumar"
}
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Irony alert! Coal Ministry plagiarises pic from Amnesty report on human rights violation by Coal India - Alt News
Sam Jawed
16th June 2017 / 3:35 pm
Even before the dust has settled over the use of Spain Morocco border to showcase floodlighting along the India Pakistan border, another shocking case of copyright violation comes to light. This case is particularly ironic because the photograph is not only lifted but used to depict the exact opposite of what it was originally intended for. A picture used in an Amnesty International report to document the human tragedy behind the expansion of coal mines has been used by Ministry of Coal to boast about their achievements.
“When Land is Lost, Do We Eat Coal?: Coal Mining and Violations of Adivasi Rights” was a report about the human “cost” of coal. The report claims that the Ministry of Coal acquired land without the consent of Adivasi communities using the Coal Bearing Areas Act, as part of a drive to double Coal India Limited’s production. The mine in the picture is Kusmunda in Korba, Chhattisgarh.
The act of image theft was pointed out by Aruna Chandrasekhar, a photojournalist and researcher, previously associated with Amnesty International India who took the picture in 2014 and documented stories of people most affected by the expansion of the mine over three years.
The story of the vanishing village of Barkuta in the picture has also been captured in a virtual reality film and photo-essay available here. “The four of us — director, film crew, Nirupabai and I — crouch amidst the ruins of demolished homes in the village of Barkuta, in Korba, when the blasting from the mine begins, sending earth and rock from flattened fields and forests into the air. We are asked by those whose houses tremble why the story of India ramping up its coal production at their expense is not explosive enough.“, states Aruna Chandrasekhar in her essay.
Here are the links to the original photo and the Amnesty International report that it was part of.
When the Amnesty report came out, Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, rubbished its claims. “I think it is a completely baseless report and I think it is floated by certain elements who cant see the development and prosperity of India“, said the minister. His ministry however did not think twice about stealing a picture from that very report to showcase its achievements. The picture was used on the home pages of Ministry of Coal and Ujjwal Bharat. It has now been deleted from both places but we managed to take a screenshot of the Google cache. Piyush Goyal also tweeted the picture from his Twitter handle.
Goyal deleted his tweet after Aruna Chandraseekhar tweeted about it.
In a series of tweets, Chandrasekhar pointed out the massive irony. She wrote about spending three years looking at exemptions used to mine at cost of people and environment and then finding that Goyal tweets her photograph to talk about import dollars saved. She tweeted, “@PiyushGoyal You don’t need to credit me but you could start using those 💵 to compensate 1000s who’ve sacrificed everything for these stats“.
Appropriation alert: L: Graphic here: https://t.co/D2AGUrJvk8 R: My photo taken for @AIIndia report on @CoalIndiaHQ‘s rights violations. pic.twitter.com/hPE4KIEcca
— Aruna Chandrasekhar (@aruna_sekhar) June 15, 2017
.@PiyushGoyal You don’t need to credit me but you could start using those 💵 to compensate 1000s who’ve sacrificed everything for these stats
— Aruna Chandrasekhar (@aruna_sekhar) June 15, 2017
This is not the first time that government reports and promotion material have used material available on the Internet without any regard for copyright. The frequency with which this is happening raises serious questions about how the government is sourcing these photographs and the ethical standards of the agencies it has employed to develop its promotional material. Till the government takes serious action, this story of one major embarrassment after another will continue.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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16th June 2017 / 3:35 pm
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"author": "Sam Jawed"
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Irresponsible media reports spark anger against Muslims and Kerala in elephant death case - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
4th June 2020 / 8:24 pm / Last updated: 5th June 2020
The death of a pregnant elephant in Kerala after she was allegedly “fed” a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers sparked massive outrage in the country. The tragic incident started trending on social media after celebrities and politicians condemned the inhuman ordeal. Many demanded that the perpetrators should be given the strictest punishment. Since then, several individuals are mocking the condition of ‘education’ in Kerala, the state with the highest literacy rate in the country. More importantly, as with most other issues in India, the helpless animal’s death has provoked a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment.
BJP MP Maneka Gandhi tweeted, “Mallapuram is know for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it.” She claimed that the incident took place in Malappuram (misspelt as ‘Mallapuram’ in Gandhi’s tweet), a Muslim-dominated district. Gandhi repeated the same in a byte to ANI.
Mallapuram is know for its intense criminal activity specially with regards to animals. No action has ever been taken against a single poacher or wildlife killer so they keep doing it.
I can only suggest that you call/email and ask for action pic.twitter.com/ii09qmb7xW
— Maneka Sanjay Gandhi (@Manekagandhibjp) June 3, 2020
In a tweet thread, Pakistani-Canadian author Tarek Fatah shared a report by NDTV and blamed Muslims for the elephant’s death.
The atrocity of feeding a pregnant elephant with pineapple full of firecrackers & killing her, took place in the Mallapuram district of India’s Kerala State. The district is the only Muslim-majority district of the state with an over 70% Muslim population.
What are the chances? pic.twitter.com/JWg7DUWizm
— Tarek Fatah (@TarekFatah) June 2, 2020
The report by NDTV shared by Tarek Fatah and several other individuals has now been updated. While it earlier claimed that the elephant died in Malappuram, the article’s updated version reads Palakkad.
The author of the report Shylaja Verma tweeted a clarification that she got the district’s name wrong.
On the Kerala elephant story, we regret getting the name of the district wrong in the first version of the story. It was corrected as soon as it was brought to our notice.
— Shylaja Varma (@ShylajaVarma) June 4, 2020
That the incident occurred in Palakkad was also tweeted by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In a tragic incident in Palakkad dist, a pregnant elephant has lost its life. Many of you have reached out to us. We want to assure you that your concerns will not go in vain. Justice will prevail.
— Pinarayi Vijayan (@vijayanpinarayi) June 4, 2020
Kerala Forest Minister K Raju said the same.
Strict action will be taken against culprits responsible for killing a pregnant elephant. I want to clarify that it happened in Palakkad not in Malappuram. Regarding, the remark of Maneka Gandhi, I don’t want to comment at this juncture: K Raju, Kerala Forest Minister (file pic) pic.twitter.com/1gnctPzhGO
— ANI (@ANI) June 3, 2020
Several individuals either shared a link or a screenshot of the report by NDTV. Below is a tweet by Pratheesh Viswanath, founder of Hindu Sena Kendra. The article claimed that the elephant died in Malappuram.
She was carrying baby inside. She was hungry so as her baby inside. So y accepted food given by humans. But she didnt kno cracker was stuffed inside. She lost trunk and toungue.
She neither turned violent nor attacked. Silently Walked to river. Died there.
From Malappuram Kerala. pic.twitter.com/nl1Omf0hJs
— Pratheesh Viswanath (@pratheesh_Hind) June 2, 2020
Other usual suspects who claimed that the incident took place in Malappuram were Arun Pudur, Payal Rohatgi and @IAmMayank_. Pudur wrote, “Now tell me about 100% literacy & who is majority in Mallapuram?”
In Kerala’s Malappuram, ba$tards fed a Pregnant Elephant Fed Pineapple Stuffed with Firecrackers.
She exploded but didn’t harm anyone. She went to the river and died quietly.
Now tell me about 100% literacy & who is majority in Mallapuram? https://t.co/lduCv2uUbW
— Arun Pudur (@arunpudur) June 2, 2020
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar also claimed that the incident occurred in Malappuram.
Central Government has taken a very serious note of the killing of an elephant in Mallapuram, #Kerala. We will not leave any stone unturned to investigate properly and nab the culprit(s). This is not an Indian culture to feed fire crackers and kill.@moefcc @PIB_India @PIBHindi
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 4, 2020
Not only NDTV, but several other media outlets claimed that the tragic incident took place in Malappuram. In fact, many continue to misreport – Republic, Hindustan Times, Times Now, India TV, The Economic Times, India Today, ANI, News Nation, among others.
A visible alteration in the report by NDTV, apart from the Malappuram misreport, is the change in the phrase “elephant fed pineapple stuffed with crackers” to “elephant ate pineapple stuffed with crackers”.
The investigation of the elephant’s death is ongoing and the exact details of the incident are yet to be determined. However, the initial probe suggests that the wild animal was not directly fed a pineapple laden with firecrackers but she may have accidentally consumed it.
Forest officers said the fruit was set as bait to kill the wild animals. However, it was too early to say if it was meant for the #elephant https://t.co/cU7zVfVm1p #kerala
— The Hindu – Kerala (@THKerala) June 3, 2020
Speaking with Alt News, KK Sunil Kumar, Mannarkkad Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), said, “There is no evidence that pineapple was eaten by the elephant along with the explosives. She may have taken the explosive with any fruit, maybe pineapple. But this is an assumption. No such evidence was found in the postmortem.”
Journalist Dhanya Rajendra tweeted details about the postmortem report which says, “Injuries in oral cavity, most likely due to an explosive blast in the mouth.”
Elephant’s postmortem report:
Immediate cause of death- Drowning.
Injuries in oral cavity, most likely due to an explosive blast in the mouth.
Could not eat or drink for nearly two weeks.
Severe debility and weakness in turn resulted in the final collapse in water.
— Dhanya Rajendran (@dhanyarajendran) June 4, 2020
Kumar further stated that it is a common practice in forest areas for locals to place country bombs to keep away wild animals from agricultural land. “Iron wires are mostly used for the purpose so that when an animal tries to cross, the explosives burst and the animals are kept away. But sometimes people also use these explosives along with food for capturing wild boars or some other smaller animal. Perhaps this elephant ate such a material. We don’t know for sure.”
“According to forest department officials investigating the case, such snares known as ‘panni padakam’ (pig crackers) in Malayalam are commonly used to hunt down wild boars, usually for their meat. In other cases, farmers who wish to ward off wild boar attacks on their land also set up similar traps, although illegal,” reads another report in The News Minute.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar told The News Minute that the elephant’s injuries showed that she was wounded due to an explosive. “This much we can say for sure now. Who was behind it and what happened, we are investigating,” he told the outlet.
Using explosives to kill, capture or wade off animals is a common practice employed in many states. Last year, a country-made explosive meant for animals went off killing one person in Telangana. A cracker meant to kill wild pigs exploded in Bengaluru in 2014 and injured two persons. In 2017, a cow had accidentally chewed one such explosive in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha. Soon after, false news promoted by ShankhNaad claimed that Muslims fed crackers to the cow. Alt News had debunked the communal misinformation. Our report can be read here.
To summarise, incorrect information put out by NDTV and several other mainstream media outlets led people to believe that the incident took place in Kerala’s Malappuram district when in fact it happened in Palakkad. Since Malappuram is a Muslim-majority district, the case expectedly took an anti-Muslim turn. Furthermore, premature media reports blamed villagers for feeding a pineapple filled with firecrackers to the animal. However, the initial probe by forest officials suggests that she may have fallen prey to a trap that is meant to keep out animals from agricultural areas. The investigation is ongoing and an FIR has been registered against unidentified persons. More details are awaited.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th June 2020 / 8:24 pm / Last updated: 5th June 2020
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Is burning of American flag unlawful in the US? Gautam Gambhir shares a fake quote - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
4th September 2019 / 10:22 pm / Last updated: 6th September 2019
BJP MP Gautam Gambhir shared an infographic on September 4 which ascribed a quote to former US Secretary of Defense, James Mattis – “Forget Jail: If you burn the American Flag, you’ll spend two years in the military. I promise you, you’ll be cured of the desire to burn a flag ever again. You’ll be waving in, saluting it, or lying under it.” It also carried the words, “This should be implemented in our country too” – suggesting that regulation punishing citizens for burning the American flag by enrolling them in the military exists in the US.
Gambhir’s tweet was liked over 12,000 times and retweeted nearly 2,500 times at the time of writing this article. It is noteworthy that the infographic shared by the BJP MP adorned a ‘Mahesh Vikram Hegde’ stamp – the man behind the infamous fake news portal Postcard News. Hegde has been arrested twice in the past by the Karnataka police for spreading misinformation.
We tried looking for news reports that might have quoted the former US Defense Secretary as saying that flag burners will have to serve two years in the military. None exist.
A reverse-search of the infographic led us to a website that shares memes. The website had picked up a 2017 post from a Facebook page ‘Right-Winged Birds of Pray’ which clearly mentions that the quote isn’t an official statement given by Mattis. “Not an official quote. Just an awesome idea featuring legendary Marine, and now Secretary of Defense, Mattis,” reads the caption.
James Mattis had resigned as the Defense Secretary last year. The post was made in 2017 when he was serving in the government. The infographic shared by Gautam Gambhir is a replica of this post except for the image of Mattis used by Hegde to create the copy.
In short, former US Secretary of Defense and military veteran James Mattis never said that individuals who burn the American flag should be enrolled in the military for two years.
President Donald Trump had recently endorsed the Republican party’s proposal to implement a ban on burning the American flag. This itself serves as evidence that the country does not have an anti-flag burning law in place.
All in for Senator Steve Daines as he proposes an Amendment for a strong BAN on burning our American Flag. A no brainer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
In 2016, the President had tweeted that igniting the American flag must have consequences “perhaps” loss of citizenship or incarceration. Trump’s tweet suggested that US law does not penalise citizens for setting ablaze the national flag, however, such regulation should be implemented.
Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 29, 2016
The United States has the Federal Flag Code that provides guidelines for the display and respect of the American flag but the law neither has enforcement provisions nor penalties for non-compliance. For a better understanding, we have to look into the history of how the country has dealt with the burning of the national flag through the years.
The US’s involvement in the Vietnam War was met with mass protests at home that spanned across ten years, starting in 1964. To oppose the brutality of the war, protestors set fire to the American flag several times to voice resistance and demand that the government calls back its troops. Reacting to the protests, the US government approved the Federal Flag Desecration Law which laid down criminal penalties for the desecration of the national flag.
In 1989, a Texas man Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of “desecration of a venerated object in violation of a Texas statute” for burning the American flag to protest against the Reagan administration and some Dallas-based corporations. In the landmark judgement of Texas v. Johnson, the US Supreme Court held that “Johnson’s conviction for flag desecration is inconsistent with the First Amendment,” which means that the court recognised flag burning as freedom of expression guaranteed by the US Constitution.
In response to the Johnson ruling, which was only applicable to the state of Texas, the US Congress enacted the anti-flag burning law Flag Protection Act of 1989 which “fined or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both” the violators of the law. After citizens were arrested and charged under the revised statute, the Supreme Court again held the law unconstitutional in the United States v. Eichman ruling of 1990.
Throughout history, there have been attempts to bring in laws that would allow the US Congress to prohibit flag desecration but none of these is enforceable. In plain language, desecration of the US flag, including its burning, is protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Citizens can, however, be convicted if a stolen flag is burnt or the fire causes damage to property.
BJP MP Gautam Gambhir, therefore, shared an infographic that was factually incorrect on all counts. Not only is the burning of the US flag permitted by law but former Defense Secretary James Mattis never said that those who set fire to the flag should be forced to serve in the US military for two years.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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4th September 2019 / 10:22 pm / Last updated: 6th September 2019
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Carica Papaya extract or 'Caripill' cannot cure a dengue virus infection - Alt News
Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh
20th November 2018 / 7:33 pm / Last updated: 15th November 2019
With the surge in dengue cases this year, a 2012 Facebook post with an image of papaya leaves is viral again with close to 995,000 shares since it was first posted. This Facebook post attributes a Times of India article as the source of information, and suggests that the juice of papaya leaves may be a miracle cure for dengue.
“It could be a miracle cure for dengue. And the best part is you can make it at home.
The juice of the humble papaya leaf has been seen to arrest the destruction of platelets that has been the cause for so many deaths this dengue season. Ayurveda researchers have found that enzymes in the papaya leaf can fight a host of viral infections, not just dengue, and can help regenerate platelets and white blood cells.”
The idea to elevate platelet count in dengue patients using papaya plants has been commercialised in a tablet form called ‘Caripill’ which comprises of papaya leaf extract. There are research studies, largely with dubious statistics & problematic blinding, to suggest how this drug may be helpful in increasing the lowered platelet count, a symptom of dengue fever that may cause bleeding. As the course of the disease is about 10 days, the studies claim that it increases platelets about 2 days earlier as compared to no other treatment.
However, the social media post fails to mention that even if the drug may be slightly effective in increasing the platelet count, it is not an indication of recovery from the dengue infection itself. Moreover, the studies do not measure the effects of ‘Caripill’ in those patients where platelet count is at dangerous low (i.e. in extremes forms of dengue) or compared the data with patients who received transfusion therapy. The studies do not measure the changes in dengue viral load or the extend of symptoms such as fever or rashes, which are the real indicators of recovery. With large errors bars in the research data, it is likely that this drug is effective in only in some patients, not all, and is not devoid of producing adverse effects as projected.
Dengue fever is an infection caused by viruses of Flaviviridae family that use mosquitoes as its host organism. The mosquito (Aedes aegypti) gets the virus by biting an infected person which later spreads to other healthy humans. The first symptom of the disease appears in about 4-5 days after the bite, and includes high fever, severe headache, nausea, vomiting and body rashes, besides joint or muscle pain. Although, it is not usually life threatening; it is a painful and debilitating condition.
Dengue virus has four different serotypes or subspecies (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Although each infection provides lifelong immunity to that specific serotype, a subsequent infection at a later stage with a different serotype increases the risk of a more extreme version of a disease called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
The data from National Vector Borne Disease Control Program (NCVBDCP, India) suggested that in 2017, the number of cases increased over 4 times as compared to 2014. Although infrequent, dengue infection killed 325 people in 2017, as opposed to 137 in 2014. There is incomplete data for 2018 but dengue infection rate has surged again this year, suggesting the epidemic is recurrent and here to stay.
Every year, during the months in which dengue is most widespread, posts about papaya, papaya leaves or papaya seeds as a cure for the disease crowd the social media ecosystems in various Asian, African and South American countries including India.
A Facebook video about Papaya seeds being a cure for all things viral, including dengue, has over 13 million views. Similarly, there are dozens of such videos on Youtube with one having over a million views.
Yet another post of a box of Carica papaya leaves tablet called ‘Caripill’ has been recirculated on social media with the following caption:
“Caripill Tablet is primarily made from papaya leaf extract to treat dengue. It raises the platelet count in patients and aids in the recovery from the disease.”
Micro Labs: Caripill Tablet is primarily made from papaya leaf extract to treat dengue. It raises the platelet count in patients and aids in the recovery from the disease.https://t.co/6MoycON20O#FEVER #disease #treatment #Dengue#denguefever #Medicines #tablet #TamilNadu #India pic.twitter.com/h6Pd3mbBPs
— JOAN LOUIS 👮🇮🇳 (@joanlouis14) October 26, 2018
The National Health Portal of India, the official government website for public health information, also stated that although there is no specific treatment for dengue, medicinal plants such as guduchi, tulasi, dried ginger and papaya prevents complications and helps to control the disease faster.
Previously, several media houses such as The Hindu and Times of India have reported that not only the tablet of papaya leaves, but the consumption of ripe papaya juice or the consumption of papaya leaves by boiling or crushing can cure dengue by raising platelet counts in blood.
Last year, an article in the New Indian Express reported criticism from Dr. Srinivas Kakkilaya, consultant physician, Spandana Centre for Metabolic Medicine, Mangaluru, of the social media post shared by Shalini Rajneesh, Principal Health Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, titled ‘Remedy for Dengue’ with an image of onions and jaggery. “There is no mention of the word ‘virus’ in Charaka Samhita. When something does not even recognise the infection, how can they recommend remedy?”
Thereafter, the Department of AYUSH issued a statement that said, “It is not intended to suggest that these remedies should be used instead of conventional treatment.”
Bangalore based pharmaceutical company Micro Labs, who are the manufacturer of Caripill, also claim that the drug has been approved by the Department of AYUSH in May 2015.
Dr. Hiten Kareliya, an infectious disease expert, suggested that “dengue acts by penetrating deep into the tissues including the bone marrow (site of platelet production), where, through a mechanism of immune compliment activation, platelet counts are reduced. It only becomes crucial to raise platelet count when they are hazardously low (through transfusion). However, that does not mean the recovery is attained from the viral infection.”
This suggests that while every patient requires monitoring of platelets, it is not required of every dengue patient to undergo therapy to counteract reduced platelets. And doing so, does not mean one is treating the dengue infection itself.
Dr. Kareliya further added, “Change in platelet count is an indicator of immune function. There can be patients with weak or suppressed immunity, such as very young or old patients, with a dengue infection but with no major change in platelet counts, hence, the Caripill papaya drug may have a weak effect on platelet counts, but that does not reduce the viral infection itself.”
This suggests that the dengue virus works in reducing the platelet count according to the immune response of the individual. For immuno-compromised individuals, the dengue infection might persist without any major changes in blood tests. It also means that in a large number of patients, low platelets may not be an indicator of infection but dengue viral load is.
Also, he stated that, “From the total number of patients visiting his clinic due to an existing dengue infection, about 20-30% of the patients are already consuming the drug”
This means that these patients have existing uncured dengue infection as well as symptoms of dengue despite consuming ‘Caripill’ drug.
Preventative measures from mosquito bites are of utmost importance, especially to prevent recurrent infections. Treatments for dengue symptoms such as painkillers or fluid therapy is recommended, while the infection can take its clinical course and can recover on its own within 10 days.
While the social media posts suggests consumption of papaya plant in various forms such as the fruit, seeds and its leaves, the research conducted on dengue patients to observe platelets were limited to drugs made from papaya leaves.
We found two clinical trials in PUBMED in which human studies were conducted, both in July 2016, and both in the same journal (The Journal of Association of Physicians of India) that correlated the effect of papaya extract with a fast recovery of dengue fever on the basis of reduced platelet count.
Study 1: Gadhwal, A. K., Ankit, B. S., Chahar, C., Tantia, P., Sirohi, P., & Agrawal, R. P. (2016). Effect of Carica papaya leaf extract capsule on platelet count in patients of dengue fever with thrombocytopenia. J Assoc Physicians India, 64(6), 22-6.
In the results section, authors from this study stated that “papaya leaf extract capsule raised the platelet count by 3rd day with decreased requirement of platelet transfusion”.
However, we replotted the data given in the article result section with its Mean SEM (standard error of the mean), given for two groups, i.e. papaya leaf drug vs control placebo drug given to a about 400 and 200 dengue patients respectively. We found serious interpretation problems in this study.
In the graph shown above, on most days except one timepoint (at 96 hrs), error bars overlap each other and hence, no significant differences can be observed between patients receiving papaya drug vs. control group.
On the day with largest differences between control and papaya group (96 hrs post from the first dose), we can see that the error bars still overlap one another. But since, the sample size is large (n = 400 dengue patients), it can be concluded that the treatment effects are very weak.
Most importantly, the study was not blinded, which means that expectations of drug performance from the patients and health practitioners can hugely impact the results.
The statement by the ministry of AYUSH and study 1 claims there are no side effects with the papaya extract drug. But while carefully reading study 1, it quotes other observations that suggests, while a dose up to 0.25 g to 0.5 g/Kg body weight is considered safe, higher doses can lead to side effects such as rash, itching, pain abdomen, nausea and vomiting. These side effects are the very debilitating side effects of dengue fever that patients are trying to recover from.
Study 2: Kasture, P. N., Nagabhushan, K. H., & Kumar, A. (2016). A multi-centric, double blind, placebo controlled, randomized, prospective study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Carica papaya leaf extract, as empirical therapy for thrombocytopenia associated with dengue fever. J Assoc Physicians India, 64(6), 15-20.
The 2nd study, however, was conducted using double blinded methods, which means that drug expectations may not have impacted the result. These results were similar to study 1, where at 96 hr timepoint post drug administration, platelet count shows signs of recovery with papaya drug. However, error bars overlapped at all timepoints suggesting a very weak effect. That is, the variation from the average result at the peak of its effectiveness (i.e. highest platelet count) was statistically similar to the adjacent days with lower result.
Also, in both cases, the error bars suggested that both studies may have some (not all) patients who had significantly faster platelet recovery with papaya drug, but a large majority didn’t.
As the immune system of each individual is different, the drop of platelet count can vary accordingly. Therefore, varying platelet counts should be normalized as percentage change from the baseline to show robust changes across cohort. Additionally, weak effects, studies lacking patient blinding to the drug, and dubious statistics in the experiment suggests that it needs more research in different conditions to conclude Caripill as an effective drug to increase platelets.
A normal recovery pattern of dengue infection (clinical course) as shown in figure above has the same timeline as the two studies showing papaya drug and control groups.
Moreover, there is no mention of what the loss or gain of platelets means in terms of clinical symptoms within the 8-10 day’s course of dengue infection, which means the studies do not show if the symptoms such as fever or pain are reduced because of Caripill. Also, there is no data that suggests that the viral load or viraemia (see figure above) is reduced due to the papaya drug, which is the real indicator of drug efficacy.
Hence, it is highly likely that dengue patients are returning to normal health with no treatments. That is, similar to other non-life-threatening viral infections, patients’ innate immune system develops antibodies against dengue serotypes without external interventions. Even if Caripill influences increasing platelets, it does not reflect on the recovery of the dengue symptoms or protect from getting dengue hemorrhagic fever.
Alt News Science is no longer edited by Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh
From 2017-2021, Dr. Shaikh was the Founding-Editor for Alt News Science. Her main role is as a neuroscientist researching violent extremism and psychiatry.
Follow @Neurophsyik
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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20th November 2018 / 7:33 pm / Last updated: 15th November 2019
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Is classification as 'developed nation' by US good news for India? - A fact-check - Alt News
Pooja Chaudhuri
15th February 2020 / 7:43 pm / Last updated: 15th February 2020
On February 12, National General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ram Madhav tweeted in celebration – “US classifies India as developed nation” – drawing close to 13,000 likes.
Madhav had shared a link of micro news platform Inshorts, same as Dr Swapneil Mantri who identifies as the state coordinator and social media head, BJP doctor cell Maharashtra. Mantri used the hashtag #PositiveNews.
Had the ones who shared the Inshorts link bothered to open it, this is what they’d have read, “The US has classified India as a developed nation, eliminating the preferential treatment it received in countervailing duty investigations. This makes it easier for the US to penalise India if it harms US industries with unfairly subsidised exports.”
The title of the report (or whatever is the acceptable term for 60-word ‘crisp’ news) was undoubtedly misleading, taking away the nuance from news. Inshorts sourced its piece from The Print where the headline doesn’t distort the context of the news. For the sake of brevity, not only did Inshorts remove China’s reference but also the phrase ‘trade benefits’.
The revocation of India’s developing country status does not mean we have moved up the development ladder but it defines India’s future trade relationship with the US. The reclassification does not indicate a rise in Gross National Income (GNI) or other social development indicators such as healthcare and education.
The United States used to group India in the category of developing nations. However, at the behest of president Donald Trump, the member countries were shuffled. Trump ‘explained’ why in a tweet last year: “…so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!”
The WTO is BROKEN when the world’s RICHEST countries claim to be developing countries to avoid WTO rules and get special treatment. NO more!!! Today I directed the U.S. Trade Representative to take action so that countries stop CHEATING the system at the expense of the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2019
Trump wrote that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is broken thus allowing some of the ‘richest’ countries in the world that claim to be developing nations to get special treatment. India, as per Trump, was one such country.
The WTO allows countries to self-declare as developing nations (or developed/ least-developed countries). India is one of the WTO’s Asian developing members. The self-declaration however can be challenged by member states. The developing country status gives members certain benefits such as the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) followed by the US. According to the United States Trade Representatives (USTR), “GSP provides opportunities for many of the world’s poorest countries to use trade to grow their economies and climb out of poverty.”
Under the GSP, Indian exporters received tariff-free access to the US until June 2019, when all benefits were suspended. Trump had signed an executive order in November 2018 that ended duty-free status for 50 items. Finance minister Piyush Goyal had sought for complete restoration of GSP benefits. As per Business Standard, “India was the largest beneficiary nation under the GSP, with total benefits from tariff exemptions amounting to $260 million in 2018, according to the data from the USTR’s office.”
India was eligible for the 2% de minimus standard under the WTO rules which required countervailing duty (CVD) investigators to “terminate duty investigation if the amount of subsidy is less than 2% ad valorem (proportion to the estimated value of goods),” according to Bloomberg.
CVDs are trade import duties imposed under the WTO rules to counter the negative impact of subsidies. As duty investigations for India will now be conducted, it would be easier for the US to penalise the country if it harms US industries with ‘unfairly’ subsidised exports.
New Delhi and Washington, DC are reportedly negotiating a trade deal which is likely to be signed during Trump’s visit to India later this month.
The USTR, for the purpose of reclassification, has not considered countries that did not declare themselves as developing nations at the time of accession to the WTO. It has also not taken into account “social development indicators such as infant mortality rates, adult illiteracy rates, and life expectancy at birth, as a basis for changing a designation.”
The US said that the following countries should forgo special treatment:
1. WTO members with a per capita GNI above $12,375 as per World Bank data.
2. WTO members that account for no less than 0.5% of the global trade share.
3. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) membership or application for membership, European Union (EU) membership, and Group of Twenty (G20) membership.
The Trump administration ended the differential treatment for so-called developing nations, including India, giving the following reason: “For purposes of U.S. CVD law, the USTR considers countries with a share of 0.5% or more of world trade to be developed countries. Thus, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Viet Nam are ineligible for the 2% de minimis standard, notwithstanding that, based on the most recent World Bank data, each country has a per capita GNI below $12,375.” The USTR also stated that India’s membership to the G20 bloc makes it ineligible for benefits.
“As of 2017, India’s share in global trade was 2.1% for exports and 2.6% for imports,” reports Business Standard.
In short, the US has revoked India’s developing nation status, notwithstanding that India’s per capita GNI is below $12,375, because the country’s world trade share is more than 0.5% and it is a member of G20 bloc. India is classified as a lower-middle-income economy by the World Bank.
The removal of India from the US’s internal list of developing nations can negatively impact Indian trade. In a conversation with Alt News, Dr Biswajit Dhar explained the implications. Dhar is a professor at Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He was formerly the head of Centre for WTO Studies at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).
“This [the classification of India as a developing nation] is important in the larger context of our membership with the WTO. Because unlike in the World Bank which uses income criteria, the WTO follows self-declaration. So as long as India calls itself as a developing country, it is going to be treated as a developing country and as a developing country, there are lots of additional benefits that accrue to a country. For example, they can maintain higher import tariffs. Many developed countries give us the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) under which the tariffs imposed on us, or other developing countries, are lower than those on developed countries. Last year the US took us off the list which means that our products will attract the same amount of tariffs as other developed countries. Given our problems, market access in the US becomes a little more difficult now. If we are recognised as a developed country, the leeway that we have to use or impose tariffs will lessen in the years to come,” said Dr Dhar.
“India is a unique economy. A part of the country seems like a developed country, but a large part of the nation looks less developed. As a country with one of the largest numbers of poor and undernourished in the world, this part will fall in the category of least developed countries. My view is that there are significant development deficits in India and given those deficits, we need to have flexibility in terms of trade policies,” he furthered.
“At our stage of development, any attack on our status as a developing country will have a serious impact on our development,” said Dr Dhar, elaborating how the reclassification will impact Indian agriculture: “Because of the WTO, we get more subsidies than developed countries, and this includes agricultural subsidies. If tomorrow, we are designated as a developed country, immediately our subsidies will be halved, if not more. So there will be serious implications on farmers. There is some discussion going on that these subsidies should be cut and there should be direct transfer but the ability of the government to give subsidies to farmers will be severely restricted.”
It may be reiterated that the classification of India as a developed nation, from the earlier developing country status, is not a result of achieving a milestone in development. As a matter of fact, the revocation is likely to have a negative effect on Indian trade in terms of subsidies and access to the US market. It is noteworthy that the revocation is not limited to India, but a plethora of other countries.
Pooja Chaudhuri is a senior editor at Alt News.
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15th February 2020 / 7:43 pm / Last updated: 15th February 2020
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Is Homeopathy an effective form of treatment? - Alt News
Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh
15th April 2018 / 9:49 pm
Samuel Hahnemann, born on the 10th of April 1755 in Meissen, a small town in Eastern Germany was the father of homeopathy whose ideas have been documented, referred to and practised upon widely by the world’s homeopathic practitioners. He has written close to 110 books but the Organon of Medicine remains one of his most popular work.
Homeopathy is one of the key branches of the ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha & Homeopathy) in the government of India. The ministry of AYUSH hosts the Central Council for Research in Homeopathy (CCRH), that has completed 40 years of establishment suggesting that, in India, the promotion of homeopathy, goes beyond the conception of the AYUSH ministry in 2014. During the course of the article, we are hoping to tackle the misconception about homeopathy being a legitimate form of medical treatment.
In the course of this article, we would like to discuss
Although, homeopathy is ancient, modern medical research has changed radically, and with it, its capacity to comprehend our understanding of the human body. With changing times, holding on to old research as the absolute gospel without adding any progress established with the help of new technology, not only jeopardizes human life but adds to the suffering.
As Professor Edzard Ernst, an academic physician and author of many books on complementary medicine including homeopathy, pointed out that, homeopathic practitioners “…live by (and from) the error of 200 years ago”.
The modern scientific research, that has progressed and documented in the last century, has largely relied on a scientific methodology that is:
1. Unbiased: The medical researcher does not conduct studies with a pre-determined notion, that the therapy they are trying to research on, is better than other available therapies on the market. This also includes pharmaceutical companies or manufacturers with economic interests in funding the research of a given treatment.
2. Blinded: During the research of a particular therapy, studies are conducted on both healthy as well as clinical subjects (patients). Neither the medical researcher, nor the subjects, (on whom the test is conducted) should be aware of the drug study(s), or its effects, before its administration.
3. Controlled: The study, should include valid comparisons, i.e. the drug of interest compared with a non-drug (e.g. sugar pill or vehicle/placebo) to ensure that the drug has some effect- as opposed to not administering any drugs. Secondly, this new drug should be compared with the best drug in the market. In instances, where clinical trials are conducted on patients suffering from a particular type of disease, it is also unethical to let them consume sugar pills (as controls) without their knowledge for research purposes. Hence, in such instances, comparisons should always be made with the best drug available in the market.
4. With statistically significant treatment effects: Experiments that reveal statistically significant data must report appropriate statistical tests (e.g. one/ two-way ANOVA, P-value < 0.05, t-tests, etc.); with an appropriate number of replicates; appropriate error bars; and should be presented clearly in graphs or tables depicting the mean of the effect and its standard deviation (or the standard error of the mean).
5. In different conditions: The effect of the new treatment is replicated in different experimental conditions, if not, otherwise stated, so that the effect is significant enough in all conditions (e.g. in different subject groups such as gender, age groups, physiological conditions, co-treatment with different drugs)
Most importantly, it is ensured that the data for scientific validity, efficacy and/or toxicity of a treatment is replicated, peer-reviewed by external experts in the field with no conflict of interests, and recorded and shared in the form of scientific scholarly articles.
This method is used for understanding of basic sciences and mechanisms of the human body using molecules, proteins, cells, laboratory grown animals, healthy human subjects to clinical patients- and just about everything in between to ascertain whether a particular type of therapy has scientific evidence for efficacy and its toxicity.
In instances, where a treatment produces side effects, a health practitioner then concludes, if the benefits it provides outweighs the side effects of the treatment.
In the 17th century, Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician unable to find answers with the limited understanding of modern medicine as it existed then, invented Homeopathy. This invention was before the systematic pharmacological study of drug safety and efficacy existed, before the knowledge of anatomy and physiology in its present form, microbiology and the germ theory of disease, before the invention of general anaesthesia (chloroform was discovered in 1831) or aseptic techniques and their uses in surgery.
After multiple failed experiments, he stumbled upon quinine containing cinchona tree barkdiscovered before 1570s as a muscle relaxant. He later used it to treat malaria and developed malaria like symptoms, oblivious to the other side effects and contraindications of this drug he developed the first law of homeopathy.
1. The Law of Similia Similibus Curentur (Let likes be cured by likes) Also called the Law of Similitude: drugs causing symptoms that mimic a specific disease can be used to treat diseases that causes the same symptoms.
2. The Law of Single Remedy states that a prescription shouldn’t be given of more than one remedy at one point of time. If that doesn’t work, one should move on to the next remedy. If multiple treatments are given at the same time, it becomes difficult to conclude which one treated the condition.
3. The Law of Minimum Dose states that one should take the smallest dose to nudge one’s vital force to start the healing process. Hahnemann believed that healing should be “rapid, gently and permanent.” To use too much of a remedy frequently causes an aggravation of symptoms before any improvement is seen, thereby putting the individual off the modality
4. The Law of Direction of Cure states that If a disease is left untreated it moves in the opposite direction
5. The Law of Infinitesimal Doses Under this law, homeopathy claims that when drugs such as an extract from the chinchona tree bark is diluted in water or alcohol, they increase their therapeutic potential. This is conducted by a serial dilution process such that a 1:100 dilution, i.e. one mL of drug per 100 mL of water or alcohol is repeated from 6 to 30 times to produce the most potent drug. In between each such dilution process, the liquid is agitated violently- a process that claims to activate the drug properties.
By this law, the minimum amount of potent homeopathy drug in the diluted liquid will be 1:100 ration repeated 6 times that will yield a maximum drug content with the ratio of 1:1000000000000
This means that a batch of 10,00,00,00,00 Litres of drug will contain only 1 mL of the actual drug compound, while the rest will be either water or alcohol. This diluted liquid, mostly water or alcohol is poured over small glucose balls that are to be consumed several times a day.
Treating symptoms not diseases:
Since the conception of this therapy was before the understanding of many physiological mechanisms or biological functionality, and as a disease was perceived as a symptom in singularity, not as a manifestation of a bigger disorder- it was believed that treating the symptom can make the disease disappear.
Ironically, homeopathy also has the theory of disease with three miasms, which are responsible for all human diseases and the treatments should be directed at treating these problematic miasms as a root cause:
1. SYCOSIS: conditions worsened by damp weather and the sea.
2. SYPHILIS: diseases of the nervous system such as a range of psychological illnesses such as alcoholism, depression, loss of sensations, ulcerations; the blood and skeletal disorders like heart conditions etc
3. PSORA: diseases of a chronic nature, all skin diseases, mental illness other than syphilitic ones, allergies, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, most dysfunctional diseases of organs and systems, etc.
Hence, each symptom is addressed instead of looking at the root cause of treatment- which the homeopaths claim to treat. e.g. Pain is a symptom of many disorders from cancer, diabetes and musculoskeletal disorders to injury and trauma. Treating the pain will not address the diabetes in a diabetic neuropathy patient as it has to be dealt with mechanistically.
A practice of validation through repetition of 4-5 doses a day, may induce a placebo like effect- something that may be holding the value of homeopathy till this date. A “placebo effect” is something that can seem like a real treatment but it isn’t. Such treatments do not contain any active substance to produce a change in effect but they still do, sometimes, in some people.
There is a large amount of research and theories constructed for the placebo, one of them is of the mind-body. In theory, these placebo therapies rely on a patients’ expectation of a treatment. The higher the expectation, the higher the change of a placebo effect to occur. Notably, it is a chance phenomenon, and in cases of critical conditions and in professional medical practice, luck or chance has little space or value.
However, in conditions where side effects of the drugs are high, placebo therapy can improve treatment and lower the cost of treatment at the same time. Nevertheless, it is controversial, as for patients seeking medical treatment, it can be unethical to give placebo without their knowledge and where patient is expecting a working solution. At the same time, placebo may not work when a patient knows it is placebo.
Placebo is one such explanation of how homeopathy may have worked in some people.
Several highly reputable scientific journals such as the list below have published studies that confirm time and again that the homeopathy method of treatment may work as placebo and there may not be any scientific basis for it.
Conclusion: Biases are present in placebo-controlled trials of both homeopathy and conventional medicine. When account was taken for these biases in the analysis, there was weak evidence for a specific effect of homoeopathic remedies, but strong evidence for specific effects of conventional interventions. This finding is compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects.
Conclusion: Placebo effects in RCTs on classical homeopathy did not appear to be larger than placebo effects in conventional medicine.
Also, the Australian NHMRC, Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, after analysing over 1800 scientific papers has concluded that homeopathy “relies on super-diluted substances” and has given the final verdict on the ineffectiveness of homeopathy as a treatment based on evidence based practice in a variety of clinical conditions. In essence, it concluded that there is no scientific basis for homeopathy and no quality evidence of its efficacy.
As discussed above, with very little active ingredient and effects largely based on placebo, treatment with homeopathy is bound to have very little side effects- apart from spiking up the blood glucose in small amounts.
As an informed consumer of medical therapies, one must ask several important questions, such as:
Why do people still use homeopathy or other disproven therapies if they fail at substantiating their claims for a scientific mechanism?
The answer to this resides beyond the scope of a scientific understanding of a diseased body. It lies in;
1. The economic model of the health system: In a largely privatized health industry such as in India, homeopathy (consisting mainly of water/ethanol and sugar) is much cheaper as a treatment when compared to modern therapy.
2. In the expectations of patients created by alternative practitioners: False claims that suggest complete eradication of a disease (e.g. autism) through alternative treatments which is not achievable through modern medicine yet, and;
3. The role of government: To oversee that such misinformation, fallacies and unscientific research methods are not a part of the official public health system, i.e., propagated through official sources and government ministers.
In India, the Ministry of AYUSH has a Central council for research in homeopathy (CCRH), a fully funded government body to conduct research in homeopathy- a research area that has been increasingly pushed into mainstream medical science since the ministry was formed in 2014.
In this year alone, the current government has outrightly promoted these alternative therapies by increasing 13% funding to the existing AYUSH budget. Also, since 2014, the government has created a separate ministry for AYUSH which is independent of the health ministry. Moreover, by trying to introduce the crosspathy bill, where AYUSH practitioners can practice basic modern medicine, the govermnt is legitimizing the practice of non-evidence-based practice such as homeopathy. In other departments of AYUSH as well, the emphasis on the scientific methodology of research is absent and elaborate claims are made to suggest fallacies not just in medical sciences but also in other sciences, something that even Hahnemann as a physician may disprove of.
Understanding the basic principles of homeopathy, in particular, the law of infinitesimal doses, it is clear that the medicine does not contain enough drug to treat any disorder, i.e. it either consists largely of water or alcohol, poured over sugar balls. While thoroughly researched evidence-based pharmacology suggests the optimum drug dosage in the body is a major contributing factor for drug efficacy. Therefore, according to the modern scientific explanation, these homeopathic drugs simply should not work based on a mechanism, but may work, for some, as a placebo. Thus, the inconsistent homeopathic efficacy in some ailments, as we observe in some patients, can only be attributed to its placebo effect.
Alt News Science is no longer edited by Dr. Sumaiya Shaikh
From 2017-2021, Dr. Shaikh was the Founding-Editor for Alt News Science. Her main role is as a neuroscientist researching violent extremism and psychiatry.
Follow @Neurophsyik
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2024-05-27T18:24:05.489452
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15th April 2018 / 9:49 pm
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