Fake News: Syed Salahuddin Wasn’t Offered Congress Ticket in 1987

Syed Salahuddin did contest the elections in 1987, but on a Muslim United Front ticket.

Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin was designated a “global terrorist” by the US government.

(Photo: AP/The Quint)

Interest in Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin’s name spiked after the US government designated him a “global terrorist”, just ahead of the meet between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump last week.

A native of the Budgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, Salahuddin was known as an Islamic scholar and preacher. He was also associated with socio-political organisation, Jamaat-e-Islami.

A website Postcard.news reported “shocking information” that Salahuddin was offered a Congress ticket to contest from Amira Kadal constituency for state elections in 1987.

In the article, postcard.news wrote:

Congress had given him MLA ticket from Amira Kadal constituency in Budgam despite knowing his extreme hatred towards India and his pro-Pakistan stand. 

They added that the Congress had to backtrack on the decision because National Conference wanted to field their candidate Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, after which Congress withdrew his candidature. The article quoted Dainik Bhaskar.

The gist of this was picked up by a Twitter user whose tweet got over 1,700 retweets and 1,200 likes.

Tweeting the News

Handles like @DrGPradhan, which have more than 84,000 followers, also tweeted out this fake news.

A number of other handles too fell for the misinformation.

Not So Fast

As pointed out by SMHoaxSalyer, Dainik Bhaskar has been falsely quoted by Postcard.

Here is what Dainik Bhaskar actually reported.

The highlighted part talks about how Salahuddin contested elections on MUF ticket in 1987.

Dainik Bhaskar, in their article, only said that Salahuddin contested elections in 1987 on a Muslim United Front ticket.

The “shocking news” of how he contested in MUF ticket because NC wanted to field their candidate was not reported by Dainik Bhaskar, but was quoted so by the Postcard, reported SMHoaxSlayer.

Not just Dainik Bhaskar, even Hindustan Times reported that he contested on an MUF ticket and there is no mention of Salahuddin being offered a Congress ticket.

Salahuddin eventually lost the election to NC’s Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah but the loss was marred by allegation of rigging elections against the Congress-NC alliance, reported the Hindustan Times.

(With inputs from SMHoaxSlayer)