“Stone-pelters should not be called terrorists.” This quote has been ascribed to senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and has been making the rounds on Facebook and WhatsApp.
Multiple Twitter users have also tweeted the same quote attributed to Singh. A Twitter user Akshay, who is followed by BJP MP Udit Raj and has more than 47,000 followers too tweeted a quote, alleging these are the words of Digvijaya Singh. The attempt here is to portray him as a terror sympathiser.
Another Twitter user, Avinash Bhardwaj, who is followed by the official account of cabinet minister Piyush Goyal and Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga, has also tweeted a fake quote. The same quote was also tweeted by the parody account of singer Sapna Chaudhary.
“We Will Set the Country on Fire”
Another fake quote in the name of Digvijaya Singh is being circulated, which reads “फौजियों ने अगर पत्थरबाजो के हाथ भी लगाया तो आग लगा देंगे पूरे देश मे : दिग्विजय सिंह (We will set whole country on fire, if Indian army dares to touch the stone-pelters – Digvijaya Singh)”. This quote has been shared by many Facebook users and is being shared on WhatsApp as well. Among those who have shared it is a Facebook page called “भाजपा आहोर विधानसभा क्षेत्र “.
A Twitter user, who claims to be followed by the official account of Piyush Goyal, has also tweeted this image.
“Not My Words”
Alt News contacted Digvijaya Singh to ascertain the veracity of the quotes. In his response, he clarified:
The words attributed to me are absolutely false. I will take legal advice on how to proceed in this matter.Digvijaya Singh
Impersonation of public figures via fake quotes is an oft-used strategy by fake news purveyors. There have been multiple instances of fake quotes circulated on social media in the past which have been chronicled by Alt News.
If and when public figures do make any controversial statements, they are always reported by at least a section of the media. Social media users are therefore strongly advised to verify any quote attributed to a public figure that they may come across by searching the quoted statements via search engines such as Google.
(This story was first published on Alt News and has been reproduced with permission.)
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