Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI — The police in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich have exposed misleading claims of social media users and a section of the mainstream media targeting Muslims over the communal violence which erupted in the Maharajganj area of the district last week.
OpIndia, a website often accused of spreading fake news and indulging in Islamophobia, has published a report claiming that announcements were made from mosques to kill people.
“There were announcements from two mosques, ‘Jo jahan mile, use wahin maar do, kaat do.’ 200-300 Muslims came with weapons and attacked Hindus. I thought they knew me, so they wouldn’t attack me, but they did. They cut the tyres of bikes and burnt the vehicles of Hindus,” a man named Vinod Kumar Mishra was quoted by the website as saying.
Reacting to these wild claims, the Bahraich police described them as “misleading” and with no evidence.
“Do not propagate such misleading claims. There is a strong possibility of law and order in the district deteriorating due to this, on which legal action will be taken,” said the police on X.
In response to the police statement, Nupur Sharma, editor of the controversial website, dared the police to file an FIR against them.
“Do it. I’ll fight you in court. And make sure the FIR is in my name. I’m the editor-in-chief. Nupur J Sharma,” she said.
Hindi Daily Dainik Jagran also carried a report which claimed that calls for violence were given on the loudspeaker during the idol immersion of Durga. The report repeated similar claims.
The police also refuted these allegations informing that legal action against the newspaper is under process.
“Even though there is no evidence available regarding the information broadcast by this newspaper, its broadcast has been taken cognizance of and notice is being issued to them for legal action,” said the police.
Earlier, several media outlets, including Aaj Tak and Zee News have made misleading and sensational claims regarding the death of 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra. These channels claimed that Mishra was already on the hit list of Muslims and subjected to severe torture, including electric shocks and mutilation.
Sudhir Chaudhary, a controversial anchor who is often accused of spreading misleading information and Islamophobia, claimed that Mishra was killed with a sword and his nails were pulled out. He insinuated that such violence was unprecedented in India despite Hindus being the majority.
The police categorically debunked these claims suggesting torture as “misinformation”.
Citing the autopsy reports the police said, “Misinformation like electrocuting the deceased, killing him with a sword and pulling out nails etc. was spread on social media with the aim of disturbing communal harmony regarding the murder of a Hindu person in an incident that took place in Maharajganj police station in Hardi district Bahraich on 13.10.2024. There is no truth in it. In the postmortem, the cause of death was found to be due to bullet injury. Apart from one person, no one else has died in this incident. Therefore, everyone is requested not to pay heed to rumours and spread misleading information to maintain communal harmony.”
