Days after X (formerly Twitter) user ‘Mr Sinha’ shook the Maldives with a single tweet, a campaign has been underway to falsely label him as a ‘rapist’ and ‘paedophile.’
On Tuesday (9th December), another X user (@B5001001101) juxtaposed the photo of Mr Sinha (aka businessman Raushan Sinha) on a poster with a nefarious agenda to tarnish his image.
The poster falsely claimed that ‘Mr Sinha’ committed the rape of a 17-year-old Muslim girl in March 2022 in Surat city of Gujarat and that he was arrested for some time. It went on to claim that the case was dropped by the police on the behest of a Delhi-based BJP politician.
“Mr. Raushan Singa (sic), an Indian national born and raised in Gujarat, allegedly raped a 17-year old Muslim girl named Meera Shah in March 2022 while she was returning home from school in Surat, Gujarat. He does not live there, but News ake News he was visiting the city at that time. This was reported to the Gujarat Police Department immediately as soon as the family knew about the incident. Police launched an investigation, collected forensic evidence and even arrested Sinha for a brief time period. However, the investigation was disrupted after an influential figure from BJP in New Delhi interfered in the investigation a few days later. The girl experienced significant trauma, which led to her discontinuing school attendance. Since then, her family has faced continuous harassment from his associates, leaving them feeling despondent. However, there is a possibility that the case might be reopened by the police if the party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not succeed in the Lok Sabha general elections scheduled for April/May 2024. Please alert the public about this individual,” the fake news posted by X user (@B5001001101) read.
The controversial user boasts of more than 17000 followers on the micro-blogging platform. At the time of taking screenshots, the fake news was shared over 200 times and liked by 500 people.
Abhi police station hi ja raha
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) January 9, 2024
Popular X user ‘Vijay Patel’ alerted ‘Mr Sinha’ about the vicious attempt at character assassination. In a tweet, Raushan Sinha informed that he was on his way to the police station to register a complaint against the fake news peddler.
Mr Sinha is a Bihari living in Gujarat. His social media presence has grown strong over the years. Despite several of his old accounts suspended, his India first and pro-Hindu stand has resonated with many leading to a staggering 165.4k followers on X, formerly Twitter, which he joined in 2016.
Registered a complaint against IsIamists sharing fake news against me…@GujaratPolice @sanghaviharsh @CP_SuratCity pic.twitter.com/T7mpVJOHni
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) January 9, 2024
When Raushan Sinha shook Maldives with one tweet
On the evening of 4th January, Mr Sinha shared PM Modi’s Lakshadweep video in a post on his X account. Little did he know that this post would cut the ground from under People’s National Congress’s (PNC) feet, the ruling party in Maldives.
Mr Raushan Sinha, a political commentator, took to X to share PM Modi’s appeal to people around the world to visit Lakshadweep. “What a great move! It’s a big setback to the new Chinese puppet govt of Maldives. Also, it will boost tourism in #Lakshadweep,” Mr Sinha wrote.
The post irked Mariyam Shiuna, Maldives’ Deputy Minister of Youth Empowerment, Information and Arts. The Maldivian leader responded to Mr Sinha’s post calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “clown” and a “puppet of Israel”.
Shiuna, along with two more ruling party leaders in Maldives, is now suspended and has deleted her post. While Indian netizens in clear words objected to the derogatory words used against their country and Prime Minister, Mr Sinha raised in a significant point in his clarification post.
On 5th January, he wrote, “It seems it has reached the Maldives & many Maldivians are hurt with this. Just to clarify that we have nothing against the Maldives, we are against your new govt which is pro China & anti India.”
Speaking to OpIndia, he pointed out that the Opposition in Maldives is pro-India whereas the ruling government led by Mohamed Muizzu is pro-China. Notably, the controversy erupted ahead of Muizzu’s visit to China on 8th January.
