Certain media outlets with vested interests and media persons affiliated to Communist-Islamist parties have widely propagated fake news about the Citizenship Amendment Act and incidents related to the violent protests. It has prompted the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to issue an advisory, asking TV channels to refrain from broadcasting content which is likely to instigate violence and promotes anti-national attitudes.
The on-going sporadic violence in the name of anti-CAA protests has been instigated by a section of media, at the behest of their political masters. Here are the ten fake news about the Citizenship Act propagated by anti-national media and Jihadi journos with a view of instigating communal riots across the country.
1. Students shot dead in Jamia Millia Islamia? No, it’s fake.
A group of Delhi-based Muslim journalists working with Malayalam Islamist publications spearheaded a social media campaign, propagating fake news about the police action in Jamia Nagar. In Whats App messages, posted in media groups to mislead media persons, they claimed that several students were shot dead in the Jamia Millia Islamia University.
In a WhatsApp conversation accessed by Organiser, Afsal Rahman CA, a contributor to the publications of Jamaat-e-Islami and various Malayalam media outlet, posted in a group dedicated for South Indian media, that two students were shot dead by the police in Jamia Millia Islamia University. Hours later, when the message was proved to be fake, several senior journalists registered their protest against propagating such fake news in media group to which information is supposed to be passed on after fact-check. Interestingly, Aysha Renna, who was seen in an altercation with the Delhi police during yesterday’s Jamia protests, is the wife of Afsal Rahman who led the fake news campaign.
The fake message was widely spread in Kerala that led to anarchy in various parts of the state at the stroke of midnight. Thousands of people took to streets in the midnight in protest against the ‘fake killings of Jamia students’. Hundreds of radical Islamist youth, under the aegis of CPM and Congress, offered Namaz-e-Mayyit (funeral prayers) for the Jamia martyrs at various places including the state capital.
2. The man in riot gear was an ABVP activist? No, it’s fake.
With the Jihadi violence erupted at Jamia Millia Islamia University and police crackdown of riots hitting headlines, social media and a section of media and media persons propagated videos and photos and related news of a Delhi policeman wearing the civil dress, claiming that he is an ABVP worker!
The Delhi Police refuted this fake news and confirmed to various media outlets that he is actually a constable posted with the Anti-Auto Theft Squad (AATS), South District.
Congress-Islamist-Commie profiles identified the man as one Bharat Sharma, an RSS worker and State Executive Committee member of ABVP. They claimed that he was deployed together with the police, giving a riot gear! Several media persons, who are working with South Indian news channels, gave reference to this fake news in their ‘ground reportage’ of Jamia Millia riots.
“He is not Bharat Sharma. This is another lie that is being spread on social media to tarnish the image of Delhi Police. He is, in fact, a constable with the AATS in South district who was also deployed on the law and order duty in the area,” DCP (Central) M.S. Randhawa told an online media.
3. 10 ‘shot dead’ in Uttar Pradesh. No, it’s fake.
Media have reported that the police resorted to firing at many parts of Uttar Pradesh while dealing with the violent Jihadi mobs. As per media reports, as many as ten persons were killed in ‘police firing’ in Uttar Pradesh. In fact, according to the police, ten people were killed in anti-CAA violence across the state, not in the police firing.
The media have widely misquoted Uttar Pradesh, DGP O.P. Singh and attributed their fake reports to him. But he categorically told media, “not one bullet was fired by police in Uttar Pradesh.” He told reporters that those who died were caught in cross-firing between protesters. Some of them, including a boy, died in a stampede occurred during the violent protest.
4. Old mock drill video propagated as police firing in Assam
An old video of a mock drill from Jharkhand has been widely propagated as police firing in Assam during anti-CAA protests. The video showing policemen firing at a crowd is being shared on WhatsApp and several media groups.
It was in fact a mock drill conducted by Khunti, Jharkhand police. A fact-check of the video confirmed that it was uploaded on November 1, 2017, on YouTube.
5. Police torched vehicles in Jamia? No, it’s fake.
Following the Jihadi violence Jamia Nagar, videos of policemen pouring liquids on buses went viral on social media. Several media outlets and reporters floated a conspiracy theory against the Delhi police, portraying it as an attempt to burn the buses. Several reporters and celebrities propagated that the police were behind the burning of three buses during the riots.
Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia alleged that the video clips could mean the police was involved in burning buses during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests.
However, a day after the incident, it turned out that the buses in the viral video were not the same as the buses burnt on Sunday. The fake news was a handiwork of the perpetrators of the Jamia violence to mislead the public.
6. By conducting NRC, we will be asked to present proofs of us being Indian. No, it’s fake.
Leftist media persons have recklessly propagated this outright lie in their news reports and the prime time news debates. The Press Information Bureau had busted this fake propaganda in one of its tweets.
According to PIB, first of all, it is important to know that at the national level, no announcement has been made to begin NRC process. If it is implemented, it does not mean that anyone will be asked for proof of being Indian. NRC is merely a normal process to register your name in the Citizens’ Register. Just like we present our identity cards or any other document for registering our names in the voter list or getting Aadhaar Card made, similar documents shall need to be provided for NRC, as and when it is carried out.
7. Fake videos of Bangladeshi Hindus crossing India border post CAA
Fact-check using the appropriate tools reveals it was an old video which is being re-used out of context.
8. Police entered AMU campuses without permission. No, it’s fake
The Solicitor General of India (SGI) Tushar Mehta on Tuesday said in the Supreme Court that the police was allowed by the administration of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to enter the campus.
A section of media had reported that the police entered the AMU campus without permission. But, according to the legal experts, there is no law that prevents a police officer from entering a college or university campus if it is necessary.
Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) grants elaborate powers of arrest to police with or without a warrant from a magistrate.
9. NRC is a part of the CAA and Muslim must worry about CAA+NRC. No, it’s fake.
Regional news channels (including News 24, Media One, Kairali News and Asianet News etc.) have widely propagated that NRC is a part of the CAA and, went so far as to explain to the viewers as to why Muslim must worry about CAA+NRC. The news is absolutely fake. CAA is a separate law and NRC is a separate process.
The Home Minister Amit Shah has repeatedly made it clear that CAA is not a part of NRC. The Home Minister has clearly stated the CAA only seeks to provide citizenship to those minorities who were persecuted in neighbouring nations and is not linked with the NRC.
The CAA has come into force nationwide after its passage from Parliament, while the NRC rules and procedures for the country are yet to be decided. The NRC process that is going on in Assam has been implemented by the Honourable Supreme Court and mandated by the Assam Accord. There is no need for an Indian citizen of any religion to worry about CAA or NRC.
10. Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghan can never get Indian citizenship. No, it’s fake
A section of media widely propagates that Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghan can never get Indian citizenship. As per PIB FAQs, Muslims from these three and all other countries can always apply for Indian citizenship and get it if they are eligible. The CAA has not stopped any foreigner from any country from taking citizenship of India provided he meets the existing qualifications under the law. During the last six years, approximately 2830 Pakistani citizens, 912 Afghani citizens, and 172 Bangladeshi citizens have been given Indian citizenship. Many hundreds of them are from the majority community in these three countries. Such migrants continue to get Indian citizenship and shall also continue to get it if they fulfil the eligibility conditions already provided in the law for registration or naturalization. About 14,864 Bangladeshi nationals including many from the majority community were also granted Indian citizenship after incorporating more than fifty enclaves of Bangladesh into Indian territory post the boundary agreement between the two countries in 2014.
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