As four states and a Union Territory gear up for Assembly elections, misleading claims about politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, are doing the rounds. Here’s a list of all that misled the public this week.
1. Mamata’s Visit to Muslim Shrine in Nandigram Was No ‘Secret’
With the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections round the corner, a video of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offering prayers at a mazar (mausoleum) is being shared to claim that in a bid to appease Hindus, Banerjee visited temples during the day and then “secretly” offered prayers at the mazar at night.
However, The Quint found that Banerjee’s visit to the mazar was no secret. The event was not only covered by several news channels, but was also streamed on Banerjee’s Facebook page.
Read the full story here.
2. Video of PM Modi Saying ‘Show Only Dreams to Poor’ is Clipped
Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, a clipped video of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing the rounds on social media. In it, he can be heard saying, “Show only dreams to the poor, tell lies, make them fight among each other, and rule.”
We scanned through the YouTube handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and came across the full video in which, PM Modi can be heard saying: “Gareeb ko sirf sapne dikaao, jhooth bolo, use aapas mein ladaao, aur raj karo. Yahi Congress ka hamesha se satta mein rehne ka formula raha hai. (Show only dreams to the poor, tell lies, make them fight amongst each other, and rule, this has always been Congress’ formula to be in power.)”
Read the full story here.
3. No, This Viral COVID-19 Advisory Has Not Been Issued by ICMR
A list containing 21 guidelines, such as avoiding travelling abroad and maintaining social distancing, to prevent COVID-19 has gone viral with a claim that it was issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
This comes in the wake of several states in India witnessing a steep rise in daily confirmed COVID-19 cases.
However, we found that the advisory, which went viral last year as well, was not issued by the ICMR, the apex biomedical research body.
We also studied the points mentioned in the advisory and could spot some spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and factual inaccuracies in the advisory.
Read the full story here.
4. Anti-France Rally in Bangladesh Shared as Protest Against PM Modi
The photo of a protest held in Bangladesh against French President Emmanuel Macron has gone viral again with a false claim that it was a huge agitation by Muslims against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This came ahead of Modi’s scheduled to visit Bangladesh from 26 to 27 March.
When we conducted a reverse image search of the viral photo, we found news reports of a protest that was held in October 2020.
The image shows thousands of protestors marching on the streets of Dhaka to agitate against President Macron after he defended cartoons depicting Prophet Muhammad.
Read the full story here.
5. Did Aditya Thackeray Test HIV Positive? No, TV9 Bulletin is Edited
A screenshot of Hindi news outlet TV9 Bharatvarsh’s bulletin has been edited to falsely claim that Maharashtra Chief Minister’s son and state cabinet minister Aditya Thackeray tested positive for HIV/AIDS.
The original bulletin stated that Thackeray had tested positive for COVID-19. The Chief Minister’s son had tweeted to confirm the news on 20 March 2021.
Read the full story here.
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