Congress MLA with Rahul Gandhi misidentified as Muskan, who took on saffron-clad mob

For the past several weeks, various districts of Karnataka have witnessed protests amid colleges prohibiting students to attend classes wearing hijabs. As Muslim students protest against the ban, Hindu students, several instigated by right-wing outfits, have organised counter-protests which has led the violence to intensify.

During these protests, a video from PES college in Mandya went viral where a group of young men in saffron shawls heckled a Muslim student in a burqa. As they made unprovoked chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, the student yelled back ‘Allah-hu-Akbar’ in defiance. The young woman was later identified as Bibi Muskan Khan and her video trended on Twitter with the hashtag #Sherni (lioness).

A more expanded and clean feed of the above episode. #KarnatakaHijabRow pic.twitter.com/TIieUQJUWN

— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) February 8, 2022

In the backdrop of this, an image of a woman standing next to Rahul Gandhi is widely being shared across social media platforms with the claim that she’s the “hijab-wearing lioness”. The claims suggest that the widespread protests across Karnataka are planned conspiracies by the Congress party.

The photo is extremely viral on Facebook and is accompanied by the hashtag #ToolKitInAction.

Fact-check

We performed a Google reverse image search on the viral image and found that the photo was uploaded on the official Facebook page of Amba Prasad. Amba Prasad is a Congress MLA from Barkagaon in Jharkhand. The viral photo was clicked in February 2022 when Prasad met Rahul Gandhi along with other Congress MLAs from Jharkhand. Photos of this visit can also be found on the official Twitter handle of the Indian National Congress.

We also checked the Twitter handle of Amba Prasad and found that on February 10 she made a tweet clarifying that the viral photo in circulation is hers. She also tagged Jharkhand police to investigate the matter. The original tweet Amba had quote tweeted has now been deleted but an archived link can be found on the Wayback Machine.

यह मैं हूं।@INCIndia पार्टी से बड़कागांव की विधायक।

इस फोटो को कर्नाटक की बुर्का वाली लड़की कहकर कलह फैलाने की कोशिश की जा रही तो बता दूं हमारी पार्टी में सबको सम्मान और अधिकार है।भगवा वस्त्र हो या हिजाब।@JharkhandPolice कृपया ऐसे ट्वीट पर फेक कमेंट वालों पर कार्रवाई करें। https://t.co/vU1CnnLBMn

— Amba Prasad (@AmbaPrasadINC) February 10, 2022

In conclusion, a photo of Congress MLA Amba Prasad was shared with a misleading claim that she is Muskan Khan, the young burqa-clad woman from Karnataka who stood up against a saffron-clad mob that tried to bully her for wearing the burqa. Previously, a photo of Najma Nazeer Chikkanarale, a member of Janata Dal (Secular) Karnataka, was shared with the false claim that she’s Muskan.