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Fact Check
Claim
Rakesh Bhatnagar, Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, wants to Islamize the University by starting the tradition of Tajiyaa inside the campus.
*JNU
से आये BHU के सेक्युलर कुलपति राकेश भटनागर BHU परिसर में ताजिया घुमवा रहे हैं ।* pic.twitter.com/Bq3SD8x4CX
— MadhuPurnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) September 10, 2019
Verification
With Muharram just having gone by, many images have been doing the rounds including one which shows the Tazia procession inside the Banaras Hindu University with the claim that the Vice-Chancellor is making attempts to Islamize the University.
Given that Varanasi is a holy place for Hindus and Buddhists, a charge like this could easily inflame communal passions. We decided to investigate this and began by checking if there were more users making similar or the same claims.
*JNU
से आये BHU के सेक्युलर कुलपति राकेश भटनागर BHU परिसर में ताजिया घुमवा रहे हैं ।* pic.twitter.com/Bq3SD8x4CX
— MadhuPurnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) September 10, 2019
A website called Best Hindi News published this news with the same image. This Hindi website wrote that the vice-chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar has taken a daring step by allowing the Tazia procession in the University. It further stated that the university was shocked after seeing this display of “secularism” by the Vice-Chancellor.
This news website had come up 3 years ago and reported stories with a certain ideological bend. We needed more details to properly verify the veracity of the claim.
According to Patrika, students staged a protest against the Tazia in BHU. The students have accused the University of starting a new tradition. While Prof. OP Rai, Chief Professor of the University said that this is not a new tradition.
We also found an article on Dainik Jagran, which states that according to the BHU’s Outpost In-charge Amarendra Pandey, every year there is a mention of Tazia procession in the festival register of the police station.
Our team found a tweet of Varanasi police also stating that it has been a tradition for years.
प्र0नि0 लंका द्वारा बताया गया कि उक्त जुलूस पिछले कई वर्षो की भांति पारम्परिक रूप से विश्वविद्यालय परिसर मार्ग से शान्तिपूर्ण तरीके से व बिना किसी प्रदर्शन के निकाला जाता रहा है। किसी प्रकार की नई प्रथा या नया मार्ग नही अपनाया गया।
— Varanasi Police (@varanasipolice) September 11, 2019
On the basis of our investigation, it was revealed that the Tazia began from Chittupur Gate through some departments of the University and not from within the University. Also, this tradition has been going on for years.
Tool Used
Result: Misleading
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