False Quotes on Ram Mandir and Farmers Ascribed to Shah, PM Modi

A newspaper clipping ascribing false quotes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah has gone viral on social media.

The clipping carries two headlines in Hindi, which translate to, ‘Ram Mandir Will Never be Made: Amit Shah’ and ‘Muslims, Farmers Had to be Killed to Gain Trust of Hindus: Narendra Modi.’ We found that a newspaper clipping has been morphed to make these false claims.

CLAIM

Several people shared the clipping with the caption, “बड़ी मुश्किल से अखबार की ये एक कापी मिली है! इसे मोदी सरकार ने गायब करा दिया है!”

(Translation: “Found this copy of a newspaper with great difficulty. Modi government had made it disappear.”)

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The claim was viral back in 2020 as well.

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WHAT WE FOUND OUT

On a reverse image search we came across a fact-check report by BBC Hindi, which had debunked the image back in 2018.

The report carries another newspaper clipping with headlines on Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh instead of Shah and PM Modi.

A comparison of the two clippings show that the design of the two is same, along with certain news items in the side boxes.

While in the Shah-Modi clipping the images are bigger, text such as “संतो को मोहरा बना रही है भाजपा: सपा,” “न्यूज़ चैनल झूठे, प्रिंट मीडिया ठीक” and “अमर उजाला ब्यूरो” are visible in both the clippings.

With relevant keyword searches we also came across articles dating back to 2013 and 2014, which had texts similar to the viral clipping.

AKHILESH YADAV’S QUOTE ON RAM MANDIR

However, we found the sub-headings, “संतो को मोहरा बना रही है भाजपा: सपा “ (Translation: “BJP is making saints a pawn: SP”) and “अयोध्या यात्रा को लेकर प्रशासन चौकन्ना” (Translation: “Administration alert about Ayodhya Yatra”) in an article on Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran, dated 23 August 2013.

The article talks about Samajwadi Party-led Uttar Pradesh government’s ban on the Chaurasi Kos Parikrama in Ayodhya, which the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) had refused to accept, stating that SP had succumbed to its Muslim leaders.

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The SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary remarked that the BJP was using saints as pawns and promoting communalism. The VHP's proposed visit to Ayodhya, despite the ban had prompted the government to increase the security in the area.

Another 2013 article on Hindi daily, Amar Ujala with a similar headline, “चौरासी कोस यात्रा को लेकर चौकन्ना रहा प्रशासन” (Translation: “Administration is vigilant about the Chaurasi Kos Yatra”) also carries the same news.

MULAYAM SINGH YADAV’S QUOTE

With a keyword search for the second headline, “मुलायम: मुसलमानों का भरोसा जितने के लिए हिदुओ पर गोलियां चलवाना जरूरी था” (Translation: “Mulayam: To win the trust of Muslims, it was necessary to fire on Hindus”) we found a similar headline in an Amar Ujala article, dated 7 February 2014.

The headline of the article reads, “गोली नहीं चलवाता तो मुसलिमों का भरोसा टूट जाता” (Translation: “If bullets weren’t fired, the trust of the Muslims would have been broken”), which is similar to the one in the newspaper clipping.

According the article he further said, “In 1990, he opened fire in Ayodhya and 16 people were killed. If he had not done so, the Muslims of the country would have lost faith in the SP.”

Evidently, a newspaper clipping has been morphed to ascribe false quotes to PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

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