The year 2020 saw an onslaught of fake news and propaganda spread not just by the mainstream media, but by politicians and ‘social media influencers’ as well. From Hinduphobic lies spread by western “professors” like Audrey Truschke to so-called ‘fact-checkers’, who are nothing more than apologists for radical Islamists spreading blatant lies, including fancying themselves as Nobel nominees – 2022 saw it all.
OpIndia, on its part, tried its best to bust as many lies as we possibly could. Here are top 20 fact-checks done by OpIndia in the year 2022, in no particular order.
1. Audrey Truschke repeats lie debunked in court, says belly of pregnant Muslim woman was cut during Gujarat riots: Here are the facts
Hinduphobic professor Audrey Truschke of Rutgers University in the USA, who keeps spreading fake news against Hindus and against India, did it again. But this time she posted a claim on Twitter which has been proven as a lie long ago. On November 26, she posted a tweet saying, “In 2002, Modi oversaw a massacre of Muslims in Gujarat. They burnt shops, cut open the bellies of pregnant women, raped, and killed thousands.”
She further claimed that BJP is “celebrating those horrors”, citing a report that misquoted home minister Amit Shah’s speech yesterday in Gujarat.
OpIndia did a comprehensive fact-check of these Hinduphobic claims by Truschke. The full fact-check can be read here.
2. How propaganda was crafted to promote an out-on-bail fact-checker while he did not even make it to the shortlist by Soros-funded NGO for Nobel Peace Prize
October 5 was no less than Eid for the liberal cabal as their two favourite self-proclaimed fact-checkers and founders of propaganda website Alt News, Muhammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha, made the list of Time’s “favourites to win the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize“. The list of “favourites” was published by Time based on nominations that were made public via “Norwegian lawmakers, bookmakers’ odds, and a personal shortlist by the director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).”
These claims, however, were bunkum. You can read our full fact-check here.
3. Was one Maulana Ataullah Qasmi burnt alive by Bajrang Dal worker in Shahdol as claimed by propaganda website and AIMIM’s Owaisi? Here’s the truth
On September 29, a New Delhi-based ‘independent news site’ courted controversy after falsely attributing the murder of an exorcist, accused of sexually harassing a woman, to Bajrang Dal. The deceased was identified as one Maulana Ataullah Qasmi.
In a tweet, ‘The Jamia Times’ wrote, “Maulana Ataullah Qasmi, a resident of Jharkhand, was burnt by a Bajrang Dal worker, and the body was thrown in the forest.”
This, however, was a lie, which was also promoted by elements like AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. In reality, the man who murdered him, had taken a woman to the Maulana for an exorcism, in the hopes that it would cure her ailments. Having won the trust of Yadav, the accused, Qasmi exploited the opportunity to sexually harass the woman. Angered by his act, the accused killed the exorcist and doused his body with the petrol from his bike.
There was no Bajrang Dal or communal link to the murder as claimed by Jamia Times or Asaduddin Owaisi. Our fact-check can be read here.
4. Fact-check: Did Rahul Gandhi meet ‘activist’ Amulya Leona during Bharat Jodo Yatra, who raised pro-Pakistan slogan in 2020 during anti-CAA protest
On September 23, several posts emerged that claimed that Congress scion Rahul Gandhi had met anti-India activist Amulya Leona Noronha during his ambitious ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra.’ After tweets on social media, a Whatsapp message also went viral where it was claimed that Rahul Gandhi had met Amulya Leona.
In February 2020, Amulya Leona Noronha created a ruckus during a public meeting of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. She raised slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ and was attempting to say more but was dragged off the stage by those present.
This claim, however, was untrue. Rahul Gandhi had not met Amulya Leona during his Bharat Jodo Yatra stint. In our fact-check, we debunked this rumour and identified the individual who Rahul Gandhi had actually met. Our fact-check can be read here.
5. Karnataka: Islamists share a stabbing incident at Chitradurga with a fake communal angle, here is the truth
On July 4, a piece of news about the stabbing of a 38-year-old Muslim man named Samiullah began doing the rounds of the internet. The story was tweeted by several handles with Muslim names with the hashtag #JusticeForSamiullah. It was alleged that the man was a resident of the Chitradurga district of Karnataka and was stabbed by a 22-year-old Hindu man named Nutan Gowda. It was also claimed that the accused was a member of the Sangh Parivar and that the stabbing incident was a hate crime.
The Chitradurga district police had debunked the ‘communal angle’ theory even before #JusticeForSamiullah began trending on Twitter. The OpIndia report on the fact check can be read here.
6. Al Jazeera spreads fake news over Maulvi’s death in Bihar, blames Hindus while local reports suggest family’s property dispute
On June 19, media house Al Jazeera Arabic published a report claiming Hindus killed a Maulvi in Siwan (Bihar). The image posted in the tweet has a message in Arabic that read, “Social media sites are buzzing with pictures of the imam of the mosque of Jeddah after he was killed by Hindus who beheaded him while he was sleeping in a mosque in the village of Khalispur in Siwan, eastern India. Calling for an investigation into the crime and calls for the “Justice of Imam Siwan” hashtag to hold the killers accountable.”
The reality behind the death of Maulvi in district Siwan of Bihar is far from what Aj Jazeera has claimed.
The Police believed he was killed on the pretext of personal enmity over a piece of land. Station in-charge Vinod Kumar Singh said a case was filed in the matter based on the complaint of family members, and a probe was initiated. Ahmed was involved in a dispute over land ownership. The OpIndia report on the fact check can be read here.
7. Scroll spreads fake news that ‘4 Dalit tanners were killed by upper-caste mob for skinning a dead cow in Gujarat’s Una’: Here’s the truth
Two days after the Assam police arrested Gujarat Congress supporter and Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani over his objectionable tweets, Scroll published a report to attack the BJP government in Gujarat. In a bid to portray the BJP government as intolerant and remorseless toward its detractors, the leftist propaganda website ‘Scroll’ resorted to peddling fake news by distorting a 2016 news story.
The leftist media portal wrote that “four Dalit tanners were killed by an upper-caste mob for skinning a dead cow in Una in 2016”, whereas the fact is that the villagers had beaten up four cow smugglers for skinning a live cow. They were not ‘killed’ by any ‘upper-caste’ mob, as claimed by Scroll.
The full OpIndia fact-check can be read here.
8. Did over 700 farmers die during anti-farm bill protests at Delhi borders? A detailed analysis of the data reveals the truth
A lot of noise was made around the alleged deaths of protesting farmers who participated in farmer protests against now-repealed Agriculture Laws. One of the demands that the farmer unions had put forward in front of the union and state governments is to provide compensation to the families of the farmers who died during the protest. As per reports and claims made by the farmer unions, around 700-750 farmers allegedly died during the protests.
Out of 702 deaths checked by analyst Vijay Patel, only 191 of them lost their lives at the Delhi border protest sites. 340 of them died after returning home from the protest sites. It is unclear on what basis the farmer unions connected these deaths to farmer protests. Another 108 people lost their lives while on the way to the site of the protests or on the way back home. The reasons for such deaths included hit-and-run cases as well.
A full report on the analysis can be read here.
9. Times of India attempts to downplay West Bengal post-poll violence, twists CBI sending 21 rape cases back to state formed SIT
The heinous post-poll violence unleashed in the state of West Bengal has been whitewashed ever since the Assembly elections. The media has hardly reported on the crimes of rape, murder and looting and turned a blind eye. After the High Court came down heavily on the Mamata Banerjee government, the CBI has been investigating the cases. However, the media was still at the job of whitewashing the brutal post-poll violence in Bengal after the assembly elections where Mamata Banerjee won with a thumping majority.
Times of India report published on January 4 that was headlined: “Post-poll violence in Bengal: No proof in 21 rape, rape-attempt cases mentioned by NHRC, CBI says”.
However, the headline by the Times of India was incorrect and misleading. Essentially, the CBI moved 21 cases of rape or attempted rape that occurred during the West Bengal post-poll violence to a state-formed SIT in order to acquire additional evidence because it was unable to locate enough in these cases. The full fact-check on the chicanery by TOI can be read here.
10. Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR blames ‘Hindutva’ and ‘Islamophobia’ in India after a Muslim mob beats up a Muslim couple for watching Kantara
On 9th December 2022, Ibrahim Hooper from Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) took to his Twitter account to complain about ‘Hindutva’ and ‘Islamophobia’ in India after a Muslim mob beat up a Muslim couple. Hooper shared news from the Free Press Journal with a caption that suggested Muslims in India are under threat from Hindus.
Interestingly, while it was a Muslim mob that beat up a Muslim couple for watching the movie Kantaara, Hooper from CAIR claimed that it was Hindus who had beaten up the couple of fearmongered about how Muslims were under threat in India. Our full fact-check can be read here.
11. Did BJP MLA threaten Muslims with no development if they don’t vote for him? AltNews’ Zubair spreads lies, Muslims say ‘ready to fact check misleading claims’
On the 13th of December, AltNews’ out-on-bail fact-checker, who fancied himself as winning the Nobel prize (which also turned out to be fake news) shared a video of Karnataka BJP MLA Preetam Gowda. In the tweet where he shared the video, Mohammad Zubair said, “BJP MLA Preetam Gowda from Hassan, Karnataka warns Muslims of not taking up any development work if they do not vote for him in the coming elections”.
However, this was untrue and the ‘fact-checker’ wilfully spread fake news. It is clear from the video and the transcript of his speech that he did not say that he will withhold development work in the area, instead, he said he will not be doing personal favours for them. The BJP MLA categorically says, “Water, road and drainage work will be done as it is my duty, but I will not be there for your personal work”. OpIndia also accessed what local Muslims were saying about the speech by the BJP MLA. The full fact-check can be read here.
12. No, Aftab Amin Poonawalla is not a Parsi but a Muslim: Here is the truth about the murderer of Shraddha Walkar
On November 12, the Delhi police nabbed a man named Aftab Amin Poonawalla for the gruesome murder of 26-year-old Shraddha Walkar. The victim’s body was chopped into 35 pieces and disposed off in 18 different locations by the accused.
When the news of the heinous crime went viral, the usual suspects began contradicting the religious affiliation of Aftab Amin Poonawalla. They claimed that the accused is a Parsi by Faith and his barbaric act was being used to ‘defame’ the Muslim community.
OpIndia found irrefutable evidence that Aftab was indeed a Muslim and not a Parsi. The full fact-check can be read here.
13. Congress leader shares image of Nigerian crowd in Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra
Jitendra Patwari, State President of the Madhya Pradesh Congress, uploaded a fake image of a huge crowd on Twitter and portrayed it as the multitude of people participating in Congress family scion and revered figure in the party Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
OpIndia reverse-searched the image and found that it is not a photo of Congress’s Bharat Jodo Yatra. The image was captured in Nigeria during the Azusa Street Revival crusade. The full fact-check can be read here.
14. Virologist Dr Robert Malone claims UP govt withheld info from US about health kits handed out to Covid-19 patients: Here is the truth
American virologist and immunologist, Dr Robert Malone, courted controversy after he claimed that the Uttar Pradesh government in India refused to divulge information about its Covid-19 treatment procedure with the United States government.
However, to suggest that none knew about the contents of the medicine kits is a far-fetched claim, which is not grounded in reality. And for Dr Rober Malone to even insinuate that the Indian government withheld such a piece of information, already existing in the public domain, from the US government has no semblance of truth in it. Read OpIndia’s full fact-check here.
15. Raghuram Rajan: The establishment man, who descends on India when the weather is pleasant, now lies about PLIs helping Ambanis and Adanis
Raghuram Rajan said that PLI (production linked incentive scheme) only helps “well-connected” firms. To make his point clear he names the very same industrialists that have been demonised and abused on daily basis by corrupt dynasts – Ambani and Adani. For good measure, he added Tatas.
This, however, is patently false. You can read our full article here.
16. Was Queen Elizabeth 2, head of the Church of England, a descendant of Prophet Muhammad?
Following the death of British Queen Elizabeth II on September 8 at the age of 96, various statements emerged, reinvigorating a long-debated claim that the monarch had ancestral links to Prophet Muhammad, the founding leader of Islam.
According to the claim, the British monarch is a great descendant of Prophet Muhammad. Her ancestors have been traced back for centuries, and there are doubts concerning Elizabeth’s probable ancestry from a Muslim princess named Zaida, as well as Zaida’s own origins and offspring.
OpIndia published a report tracing whatever we know about this theory. You can read the full article here.
17. Fact-Check: Did PM Modi try to click a photograph of cheetahs with the lens cover on
On September 17, a few photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral on social media, where it was claimed that he tried to click photographs of Cheetah released on Konu National Park while the lens cover was on. Many Congress leaders, TMC leaders shared the morphed image in a bid to mock PM Modi on his birthday.
Upon examination of the photographs in circulation, it was clear that the lens cover was not on and politicians were using a morphed image to mock the Prime Minister. Read the full fact-check here.
18. NDTV twists ‘pro-choice’ comment of boxer Nikhat Zareen to legitimise Karnataka hijab row, other media houses amplify misinformation
Days after Nikhat Zareen brought accolades to India by winning gold at the Women’s Boxing World Championships, leftist media portal NDTV deliberately misquoted her to give credence to the Karnataka hijab row.
Nikhat Zareen did not speak about the ‘right to wear hijab in schools’ or to make exceptions for anyone when it comes to school uniforms, however, NDTV deliberately twisted her statement. The OpIndia fact-check can be read here.
19. As Pfizer releases more than 80000 pages on its Covid-19 vaccine, claims about it flood social media: Here are the facts
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer published documents related to its m-RNA Covid-19 vaccine and the trials of the vaccine. The first batch of over 80,000 pages of documents were released on May 2, triggering many information and mis-information being spread about the vaccine on social media.
OpIndia did a comprehensive review of the facts related to the documents and the misinformation being spread. You can read the full article here.
20. ‘Nobel nominated fact-checker’ Md Zubair spreads fake news that Raghuram Rajan didn’t propose Islamic banking in India, uses a different unrelated report
On 15th December 2022, ‘fact-checker’ and Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair tried to ‘fact-check’ journalist Rahul Shivshankar but ended up spreading fake news himself. While Times Now editor Rahul Shivshankar had quoted a report by former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan that talked about Islamic banking, Zubair claimed that the report was by Dr. C Rangarajan.
You can read OpIndia’s comprehensive fact-check here.
