Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
New Delhi: An image showing two young men holding copies of the Holy Quran, with the caption identifying them as Muslims attacked in Tripura is going viral on Twitter. A fact check by Newschecker found that the image was from earlier this year, and was captured in Delhi shortly after a fire ravaged through a Rohingya camp.
The image, tweeted by @TSP_A_Hannan, who claims to be the social media coordinator of Tipu Sultan Party, has over 1000 retweets and over 2000 likes. The image was also shared by several other users on social media claiming that it showed Muslims attacked in Tripura.
Fact Check
To ascertain if the image showed Muslims attacked in Tripura, Newschecker did a reverse image search to find a tweet by @Habeebinamdar carrying the same image, with the caption “Inhuman. After Jammu Camp now Delhi Camp was set on fire. The Rohingya muslims allege that they were threatened by the goons to vacate the place else they will burn it.It should be investigated & take action against those who are responsible. Plz help them & pray for them.” The tweet, dated June 13, 2021 has over 220 retweets and almost 290 likes.
Through a keyword search on Google, Newschecker found that such fire did take place in the Rohingya refugee camp in Delhi’s Kanchan Kunj area. Reports of the incident revealed that 55 shanties were gutted in the tragic incident, and while there were no deaths or injuries reported in the incident, the refugees staying in thee camp were rendered homeless.
Read the articles here, here and here.
Twitter user @MujtabaAasif also called out the misinformation on Twitter, saying that the image was taken from the recent fire in a refugee camp in Delhi and is not from Tripura.
The image was also posted on Mujtaba’s Instagram account on the same date.
Newschecker reached out to @MujtabaAasif who said that the image was clicked by a friend on July 12 earlier this year when a massive fire occurred at the Rohingya refugee camp in Delhi, gutting 56 shanties in the mishap.
Newschecker also reached out to the photographer who captured the image. Explaining the circumstances in which he clicked the image, Md Meharban, an independent photojournalist, said “The two men in the image are Rohingya refugees. The fire mishap in the camp had ravaged the local mosque and residents were trying to salvage the Holy Quran that was inside. That was when I clicked the image. It was around 1am in the night. I clicked the image for myself, not for any publication. It had gone viral back then too.”
Conclusion
A viral image claiming to show Muslims attacked in Tripura holding copies of the Holy Quran after attack by VHP members is actually from a Rohingya camp in Delhi that was ravaged by fire in July.
Result
Misplaced context/Partly False
Sources
Social media posts
Our sources
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Authors
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
