These Pictures Are Unrelated To Recent Hate Campaigns Against Muslims in India
The Claim
The pictures depict clashes between Muslims and Hindus during protests against the offensive remarks on the Prophet Muhammed in India.
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Websites and social media users across the MENA region have recently circulated two images claiming that they are related clashes between Muslims and Hindus. The clash is said to have taken place during protests against the offensive remarks on the Prophet Muhammed in India.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The two pictures are old and unrelated to the most recent protests against the offensive comments against the Prophet Muhammad.
2019 Image From Protests of New Citizenship Law in India
Using Google Image Reverse Search, it turned out that the picture was uploaded online in December 2019 to the Getty Images store as “police clash with protesters during demonstrations against India's new citizenship law in Lucknow on December 19, 2019.”
According to Getty Images, “Indians defied bans on assembly on December 19 in cities nationwide as anger swells against a citizenship law seen as discriminatory against Muslims, following days of protests, clashes, and riots that have left six dead.”
According to Reuters, the Indian parliament passed a new citizenship law that has brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets in protests and triggered bouts of violence across the country in December 2019.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) aims to fast-track citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.
The article reported that the Indian government argues that the law is necessary to help Indian groups. However, it has triggered a “steady stream of protests across India,” with discriminatory critics against Muslims.
Photo From 2020 Indian Protests
Misbar also reviewed the second image and found it to be old as it depicts “people supporting a new citizenship law and those opposing the law, clashing during a protest in New Delhi on February 24, 2020.”
Offensive Comments About Prophet Muhammad
Misbar’s Arabic Team has noticed the circulation of this claim following the insulting remarks about the Prophet Muhammad by two members of the Indian ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Several Islamic countries have condemned the offensive comments, and as a response, the BJP suspended the two members and released a blanket statement mentioning that the party respects all religions and denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion.
Translated by Khadija Boufous
