Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Claim
Communist Party of India ranked 12th in the list of the deadliest terror groups of 2022.
Fact
Institute for Economics & Peace has clarified that the CPI was mistakenly mentioned on the list instead of the CPI (Maoist). The correct list has since been published on their website.
A graphic listing the Communist Party of India (CPI) as the 12th most deadliest terror group of 2022 is going viral on social media platforms with users alleging that the left-wing political party is now “officially a terrorist organisation.”
The image purportedly listing 20 deadliest terror groups of 2022 further states that ‘the party’ was responsible for 39 deaths and 30 injuries in 61 attacks last year. Newschecker found that the CPI was earlier erroneously featured in the recent Global Terrorism Index report, instead of the CPI (Maoist).
Multiple Twitter and Facebook users shared the graphic listing CPI alongside terror outfits such as the Islamic State, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Lashkar-e-Taiba among others.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Newschecker also received the viral graphic on our WhatsApp tipline (+91-9999499044) multiple times requesting to be fact checked
Fact Check/Verification
A keyword search for “20 deadliest terror groups 2022” on Google led us to a report by the Hindustan Times, dated March 16, 2023, titled ‘India among worst-hit but terror not top concern to daily safety.’
The report was based on the Global Terrorism Index released by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) and noted that while India has a number of low-level conflicts in some border areas, the majority of the country’s population lives outside these regions. Adding, “The report listed the Communist Party of India (Maoist) as the 12th deadliest terror group in 2022 ahead of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (13th) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (16th).”
Taking a clue, we looked up “Global Terrorism Index,” & “IEP” on Google which yielded the latest edition of the GTI featured on the official website of the Institute for Economics & Peace.
On comparing the viral image with the Global Terrorism Index 2023, we found them both to be identical — except for the organisation ranked 12th.
In the viral image, Communist Party Of India is ranked 12th in the list of 20 deadliest terror groups of 2022, whereas the Global Terrorism Index 2023 report featured Communist Party of India (Maoist) in that spot.
Notably, CPI (Maoist) is banned in India. To know more about the organisation check here.
IEP: Mislabelling in Database, Necessary Corrections Made
A Times of India report, dated March 18, 2023, quoted a representative of Team IEP as saying, “The report utilises Dragonfly’s Terrorism Tracker data and incorporated the terminology used in their database which mislabelled the Communist Party of India as it did not include the correct (Maoist) addition. As soon as we were made aware, we took immediate action and corrected the report to accurately reflect the title of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).”
Dragonfly told TOI,“Our data refers to a group called ‘Communist Party of India – Maoist’. This is not the same entity as the ‘Communist Party of India’, which, as you note, is a legitimate political party and not a terrorist organisation. The confusion may have arisen by an omission or overlooking of the important ‘Maoist’ part of the name in material somewhere along the line.”
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that the IEP had erroneously included Communist Party of India instead of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in their list of “deadliest terror groups of 2022.” The organisation has since corrected the index, and its revised version lists the CPI (Maoist) as 12th most deadliest terror group of 2022.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Report By Hindustan Times, Dated March 16, 2023
Global Terrorism Index 2023
Report By Times of India, Dated March 18, 2023
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
