Ever ready to shield Islamists and downplay crimes committed by Muslim youth, propaganda outlet Alt News recently came up with a ‘fact check’ that made a ludicrous claim that the Islamic missionary movement Tablighi Jamaat is involved in converting people to Hinduism while attacking Swati Goel Sharma, a Swarajya Magazine journalist who is at the forefront in covering hate crimes committed against Hindus.
The matter pertains to a shocking assertion made by a man who identified himself as Rashid Khan, who had justified Shraddha’s murder by Aftab, suggesting that in a fit of rage, a man can cut up 36 pieces instead of 35. Alt News published a ‘fact check’ claiming that the man in question is Vikas Kumar, even though he insisted on being referred to as Rashid Khan.
The propaganda outlet even quoted Swarajya journalist Swati Goel Sharma, who had tweeted that given her familiarity with Dawah activities, Khan appeared to be a recent convert to Islam.
“Given my experience with covering Dawah activities, I feel he is a recent convert. I am saying this irrespective of what he said, of which I have little idea. A very likely Tablighi connection,” Swati had tweeted.
Given my experience with covering Dawah activities, I feel he is a recent convert. I am saying this irrespective of what he said, of which I have little idea. A very likely Tablighi connection https://t.co/Sf2W6Lxgpy
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) November 25, 2022
However, perhaps because of low comprehension skills and an eager zeal to discredit Swati, who has been a thorn in Alt News and other fundamentalist organisation’s side with exposing Islamists, the propaganda portal alleged that Vikas had recently converted to Hinduism and very likely had a Tablighi connection.
Essentially, Alt News interpreted Swati’s tweet to allege that Tablighi Jamaat converted to Hinduism, drawing ridicule from the Swarajya Magazine journalist, who took a swipe at the leftist propaganda outlet and its founders.
“Always knew those running @AltNews-, @free_thinker, @zoo_bear and gang – are not very bright. But claiming Tablighi converts Muslims to Hindu?”
Soon thereafter, Alt News updated the article and added a corrigendum that said: “In an inadvertent error, it was mentioned in the article that a journalist had claimed that Vikas Kumar had recently converted to Hinduism. The article has been updated. The error is sincerely regretted.“
After Alt News issued a corrigendum, Swati took a dig at the portal for making more “inadvertent errors” than fact checks.
.@AltNews is a fact-checking website that makes more ‘inadvertent errors’ than fact-checks pic.twitter.com/fYf3XVvpZQ
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) November 26, 2022
A man who identifies himself as Rashid Khan justifies the murder of Shraddha Walkar
While the police claimed that the man who justified the murder of Shraddha Walkar is Vikas Kumar, he has been consistently referring to himself as Rashid Khan and insisting others call him Rashid. The controversy erupted after he justified the murder of Shraddha Walkar, alleging that in a fit of rage of, a man can cut up a woman in 36 pieces instead of 35.
On November 14, the Delhi Police solved the six-month-old murder case of Shraddha Walkar and arrested Aftab Poonawala for murdering her, and then chopping her into 35 small pieces. Aftab executed the murder on May 18 and stored her body parts in the refrigerator. He then disposed of the body pieces in Delhi’s Mehrauli forest during the next 18 days.
The accused was arrested based on the complaint filed by Shraddha’s father on November 10. He stated in the complaint that the accused and the deceased had rented an apartment in Delhi and were staying in an unhealthy live-in relationship. He said that he had always opposed their relationship as Aftab used to physically assault Shraddha.
The girl, a resident of Palghar was adamant about continuing her relationship with accused Aftab and shifted to Delhi with him. Three days after they shifted to Delhi, they engaged in a quarrel and Aftab happened to kill Shraddha. He confessed his crime on November 14 and stated that they used to fight a lot. He said that he murdered Shraddha on May 18 as she was forcing him to get married to her. They also fought over who would manage the domestic household expenses.
