Authors
A self-taught social media maverick, Saurabh realised the power of social media early on and began following and analysing false narratives and ‘fake news’ even before he entered the field of fact-checking professionally. He is fascinated with the visual medium, technology and politics, and at Newschecker, where he leads social media strategy, he is a jack of all trades. With a burning desire to uncover the truth behind events that capture people's minds and make sense of the facts in the noisy world of social media, he fact checks misinformation in Hindi and English at Newschecker.
Claim:
Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police.
Verification:
As we all know, many Bollywood stars have shown empathy towards CAA protesters and have stood in solidarity with students. While many Bollywood Actors chose to join the protests, some have shown their anger and discontent on Social Media. Parineeti Chopra was also one among those who expressed her concern on the microblogging site. Many Twitter users adored her gesture while many others got furious and accused her of presenting the only side of the story.
Here’s what Parineeti said.
If this is what’s gonna happen everytime a citizen expresses their view, forget #CAB, we should pass a bill and not call our country a democracy anymore! Beating up innocent human beings for speaking their mind? BARBARIC.
— Parineeti Chopra (@ParineetiChopra) December 17, 2019
Parineeti made this tweet on 17 December 2019 and The Print published a report on 20 December 2019 titled “Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police”, exactly three days after her tweet. Parineeti’s tweet was neither controversial nor spicy but she made a very stern point and basis on that The Print, owned by Shekhar Gupta, reported that Parineeti Chopra had been removed as Brand Ambassador for Haryana’s Beti Bachao- Beti Padhao initiative.
Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police
New Delhi: Manohar Lal Khattar’s BJP-led government in Haryana is learnt to have removed actor Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador of its ‘ Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao ‘ campaign. Chopra had criticised police action against Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University students, who were protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act last Sunday.
Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police
ThePrint’s @unnati_sharma_ reportshttps://t.co/jq00REXWtz
— ThePrint (@ThePrintIndia) December 20, 2019
Now, if you read the report published in ‘The Print’, the first sentence reads, “Manohar Lal Khattar’s BJP-led government in Haryana is learnt to have removed actor Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador of its ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign.”, now nowhere in its article, The Print has mentioned the source from where it learned the news about Parineeti’s removal as Brand Ambassador of Haryana Government’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign.
The other suspicious claim in the report is, no mention of Haryana Govt’s officials whom The Print tried to contact and didn’t get an answer from. In the same line, The Print categorically mentions that “a report in Hindi newspaper Dainik Jagran quoted project director Yogendra Malik as confirming that she is no longer part of it.”.
As we searched, we found many other articles reporting the same information as of ‘The Print’.
#ParineetiChopra has reportedly been removed as the face of #Haryana state #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao campaign. #CitizenshipAmendmentAct #CAA #Bollywood #SushantSingh #SavdhaanIndiahttps://t.co/w21PbJXy5w
— The Statesman (@TheStatesmanLtd) December 20, 2019
#ParineetiChopra removed as The Brand Ambassador of ‘#BetiBachaoBetiPadhao‘ due to Her Anti-#CAA Tweet? Know here.#CABBill2019 #CitizenshipAmmendmentAct https://t.co/N5hPyS0Ech
— India.com (@indiacom) December 20, 2019
Basis these reports, Journalist Shivam Vij, Shekhar Gupta and many others questioned the Haryana Government.
Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police
ThePrint’s @unnati_sharma_ reportshttps://t.co/NhcqSiiL6g
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) December 20, 2019
Parineeti Chopra Reportedly Removed As The Face Of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ Campaign Post Anti-CAA Tweet | https://t.co/z0GsNWrD9a
— Marvelous Mrs Sharma (@BookLuster) December 20, 2019
Haryana drops Parineeti Chopra as Beti Bachao face after her ‘barbaric’ comment on police https://t.co/xIuzGGlXaf
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) December 21, 2019
Those who will speak against The Dictator, they will have to pay a price! https://t.co/eTkewmNOsk
— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) December 20, 2019
बेटी बचाओ और पढ़ाओ, सिर्फ़ तब तक और उतना ही जब तक वो आपकी ज़ुबान बोलती रहे!https://t.co/p29O5dqTqz
— All India Mahila Congress (@MahilaCongress) December 20, 2019
I applaud @ParineetiChopra for speaking her mind no matter what…
All the colours of a fascist regime are now appearing… @MahilaCongress @sushmitadevinc
https://t.co/wEWoDqMQcI— SS Kim (@KimHaokipINC) December 20, 2019
‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Par Beti Pad Likhke Opinion Dene Lagey, Toh Beti Hatao.’ https://t.co/9eu1oiGoKV
— Rituparna Chatterjee (@MasalaBai) December 20, 2019
The intensity of this claim can be viewed here.
As we searched for official statement of the Haryana Government, we found a tweet by ANI which has published the statement of Spokesperson of Women & Child Development Department of the Haryana Government. The ANI tweet reads, “Spokesperson of Women&Child Development Dept of Haryana Govt: News of Parineeti Chopra being dropped(for tweeting against #CAA) as the brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ is false, baseless and malicious. MOU was for 1 year, till April 2017. Thereafter MOU was never renewed”.
Spokesperson of Women&Child Development Dept of Haryana Govt: News of Parineeti Chopra being dropped(for tweeting against #CAA) as brand ambassador of ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ is false, baseless and malicious.MOU was for 1 year,till April, 2017.Thereafter MOU was never renewed pic.twitter.com/jcRBsvrNXM
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2019
In search of more information on the issue, we searched the internet and found a report in Hindustan Times. As per Hindustan Times report, Parineeti was appointed as the official brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign for a period of 12 months commencing from May 1, 2016 to April 30, 2017. It also informs that Parineeti’s brand ambassador agreement got terminated in April 2017 and there was no further renewal so there is no question of removal.
Row over Parineeti’s removal as Haryana brand ambassador baseless
chandigarh Updated: Dec 20, 2019 23:10 IST The controversy over the removal of Bollywood actor, Parineeti Chopra, as brand ambassador of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao campaign in Haryana following a tweet by the Kesari star condemning the “barbaric” police action against those protesting against the Citizens Amendment Act has turned out to be baseless.
We also found a Times of India report that explains Parineeti’s appointment and talks about the controversy that stirred when the Haryana Government named Olympic Medalist Sakshi Malik as state’s brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao campaign.
Who is Haryana’s Beti Bachao brand ambassador – Parineeti, Sakshi, or both of them? | Gurgaon News – Times of India
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar recently named Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik as the state’s brand ambassador for the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme. Last year in July, in an event in Gurgaon, the state government had named Parineeti Chopra, who was born in Haryana’s Ambala district, the brand ambassador of the same initiative.
Claim made by Shivam Vij, Shekhar Gupta, The Print and others is ‘Misleading’
As it is evident in our fact check that Haryana Government has not removed Parineeti Chopra as Brand Ambassador for its Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign as her agreement with the Government ended in 2017 and there was no renewal.
Result: Misleading
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Authors
A self-taught social media maverick, Saurabh realised the power of social media early on and began following and analysing false narratives and ‘fake news’ even before he entered the field of fact-checking professionally. He is fascinated with the visual medium, technology and politics, and at Newschecker, where he leads social media strategy, he is a jack of all trades. With a burning desire to uncover the truth behind events that capture people's minds and make sense of the facts in the noisy world of social media, he fact checks misinformation in Hindi and English at Newschecker.
