In order to add fuel to the ongoing protests in India, Iran’s Tehran Times posted a fake protest video on social media and claimed it to be from India. It said Indian Muslims staged a rally to condemn Nupur Sharma’s comments on Muhammad’s life.
“Hundreds of thousands of Indian Muslims stage a rally to condemn the blasphemous remarks about Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by the BJP staff,” said Tehran Times in its tweet.
Social media influencer Anshul Saxena busted the propaganda of Iran and said the crowd gathered in the video was not from India but from Pakistan in 2020.
Anshul Saxena, on his Twitter handle, posted the fake tweet of Tehran Times along with the actual screenshot of the same visual on a YouTube channel of Labbaik News, which proved that it was from 2020 in Pakistan during the Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s chehlum (ceremony held 40 days after his death in November 2020).
“Iran media Tehran Times is reporting fake news to incite violence in India. Fact is that this video is from Pakistan. This video is of crowd gathered for TLP Chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi’s Chehlum (ceremony held 40 days after his death in November 2020) in Lahore,” Anshul Saxena wrote on Twitter.
Earlier, Iran’s Foreign Ministry peddled fake news that India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval assured Iran’s foreign minister that strict action would be taken against those who spoke about Mohammad.
“Ajit Doval reaffirmed the Indian government and officials’ respect for the Prophet Muhammad, saying offenders will be dealt with, at the government and related bodies levels, in such a way that others will learn a lesson,” Iran’s foreign ministry said in its statement.
MEA later denied the statement and said the issue was not brought up during the meeting with NSA Doval and MEA, Dr S. Jaishankar.
“My understanding is that this issue was not raised during that conversation,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, adding, “The issue on remarks against the Prophet did not come up between External Minister S Jaishankar and the Iranian Foreign Minister. This has been conveyed to our interlocutors as also the fact that action has been taken by the concerned quarters against those who made the comments and tweets. I really do not have anything additional to say on this.”
Ever since Alt News co-founder and alleged ‘fact’ checker Muhammad Zubair twisted Nupur Sharma’s words on Muhammad’s life in his 85-second video on social media, several vested interests within the country and outside have been using the situation to create unrest in the country.
Islamists took to the streets on June 10 after Friday prayers and wreaked havoc in several parts of the country in the name of protest. While AIMIM (Inquilab) leader Qavi Abbasi announced a bounty of 1 crore on Nupur Sharma, an effigy of the former BJP spokesperson was found near a dargah in Karnataka’s Belagavi.
Despite apologising for her comments on Mohammad’s life on social media, Islamists have been issuing several rape and death threats to Nupur Sharma.
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