On Monday, social media was abuzz with reports that a Muslim child born in 2018 had his birthplace as ‘Pakistan’ instead of Ahmedabad. A video was shared by one Mohammad Asif Khan who claimed that a Muslim kid’s birth place is mentioned as Pakistan instead of Ahmedabad.
This is from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
A Muslim kid’s birthplace is mentioned as Pakistan instead of Ahmedabad in his birth certificate.
This Muslim family is scared now, they are trying to get remove this discrepancy.
Action should be taken against that officer who did this. pic.twitter.com/vSFiumO1aw
— Md Asif Khan آصِف (@imMAK02) February 17, 2020
Similar video was shared by one “Revler urf Hit Stoner” on Twitter with similar claims.
In #Ahmedabad, #Gujarat, #India an Officer issued birth certificate of a #IndianMuslim child birthplace in ‘#Pakistan‘ – BBC News
The family is very upset, scared, why was it done to them.
Watch full video :https://t.co/dLdsvAXfby#NRC #CAA #NPR #NRC_CAA_NPR pic.twitter.com/5BatEVmocq
— Revler urf Hit Stoner ☪ (@HitStoner1) February 17, 2020
Both shared BBC Gujarati video wherein the mother of the child is saying that they are afraid with impending NRC, Pakistan in the birth certificate may send them to Pakistan for real.
There are multiple things wrong with the video.
As seen above, the address mentions birthplace as Ahmedabad only. ‘Pakistan Railway Crossing’ is a landmark for the locality. The railway crossing in Vatva, Ahmedabad, is informally known as ‘Pakistan railway crossing’ as it is near a Muslim dominated area. However, as seen in the above image, the address of the birth place of the child is Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Secondly, as per February 13 report of Times of India, Amdavad Municipal Corporation has changed the birth certificate and updated their online records as well.
As per the report, the 18-month-old Mohammad Uzerkhan now has updated birth certificate which does not mention the landmark which was informally known as Pakistan railway crossing.
Thirdly, BBC video talks about the fears the family has because of applicability of Citizenship Amendment Act. CAA is not even applicable to Indian citizens. As seen above, the child’s birth certificate states Ahmedabad, Gujarat as birthplace. Shockingly, instead of explaining to the parents that the birthplace in the certificate really does not mention Pakistan as birthplace, BBC continued to spread fake news.
