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| - Fact Check: This 'AIMIM Kanpur' beheading poster is from 2021 and has no connection with Nupur Sharma row
AFWA found that the hoarding is not a recent one but was put up in Kanpur in April 2021. It was not only taken down by the police but the people responsible were brought before the law. Both police and the AIMIM contend the party was not involved in this.
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India Today Fact Check
The image is from April 2021. It was immediately taken down by the police. The perpetrator is currently facing trial. Both, the police and the AIMIM claim the party was not involved in this.
The Nupur Sharma row and its fallout continue to dominate discourse online. Between opposing factions supporting and decrying her, increased sectarian tension across the country, and two murders allegedly caused because people supported Sharma, the story has taken a dark turn.
Amid all this, many tweeted a photo of a flex board that was supposedly paid for by the Kanpur chapter of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen. The board featured two beheaded figures — Wasim Rizvi and Yati Narsimhanand Saraswati.
Those sharing the photo criticised the party’s head, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi. "Are those, who are provoking people publicly to behead others by putting up these posters not responsible? This poster has been put up by the people of Asaduddin Owaisi’s party," one such post read.
AFWA found that the hoarding is not a recent one but was put up in Kanpur in April 2021. It was not only taken down by the police but the people responsible were brought before the law. Both police and the AIMIM contend the party was not involved in this.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of the image led us to a Patrika report from April 13, 2021. The report said AIMIM activists put up the objectionable flex board featuring the decapitated heads of Wasim Rizvi and Narsimhanand Saraswati at the Halim College intersection and other places under Chamanganj police station limits in Kanpur on April 12, 2021. According to the report, the police were quick to react and removed all hoardings from the city and registered a case.
A report by 'Nationworldnews' said the police took cognisance of the case and lodged a complaint under sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code.
A recent tweet by the Kanpur Police Commissionerate's official account proclaimed that the hoarding was old and the people responsible had been jailed.
We contacted the Chamanganj police station for further clarity.
An officer at the station told India Today over the phone that there has been no such recent incident of such hoardings being installed in the city and it is old images that are being shared as recent. "The picture of the hoarding used in these posts is of 2021 and this case has already been dealt with. The charge sheet named three people — Shadab, Nuur Alam, and Sayere Alam, who were arrested and are on trial now," the officer said.
However, there is no mention of any direct link between these culprits and the AIMIM, the officer maintained. AIMIM UP Chief Shaukat Ali also told that his party workers have nothing to do with the hoarding in question.
The people in the image
Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the head of UP's Dasna Devi Temple at an event in Haridwar city openly called for violence against Muslims in December 2021. He was arrested in January 2022 in connection with two cases: making derogatory remarks against women and giving a hate speech.
Former UP Shia Waqf Board Chairman Wasim Rizvi was booked in November 2021 based on a complaint by Owaisi. It was alleged that Rizvi's book had objectionable content that targeted to create a feeling of enmity against Indian Muslims. Rizvi was in the news after petitioning the Supreme Court to remove 26 verses from the Quran. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and imposed a fine of Rs. 50,000 on him.
Thus, it is clear that the board installed in April last year is being shared now to mislead. The perpetrators were held and facing trial. Both, the police and the AIMIM, claim the party was not involved in this.
(With inputs from Sanjana Saxena)
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