Among the top Twitter trends on February 25 were ‘mosque’ and ‘Rana Ayyub’. The words gained traction after the journalist shared a video of a mob chanting “Jai Shri Ram” and “Hinduon ka Hindustan” planted a saffron flag atop a mosque in Delhi. Ayyub later took down the video after Tehseen Poonawala claimed that it is unrelated to protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Ayyub has now posted the video again after confirming its authenticity.<\/p>\n
\nRe-posting this video after verifying its authenticity. It is from Delhi. Men marching on top of a mosque, vandalising it and placing a saffron flag over it. pic.twitter.com\/bScgJMxKc3<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) February 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Poonawala, in response, attached a statement by DCP North West, Delhi which says that no mosque has been damaged in Ashok Vihar area.<\/p>\n
\nhttps:\/\/t.co\/DOwnDqVFmE<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Tehseen Poonawalla Official (@tehseenp) February 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is noteworthy that Poonawalla retweeted\u00a0ANI’s\u00a0<\/em>tweet which has over 8,000 likes. Since then several users have claimed that Ayyub was circulating false information.<\/p>\n
\nDear @DelhiPolice<\/a> fake news was spread by @RanaAyyub<\/a> who is a serial offender.Hope you take strict action against her.
\nHow does @washingtonpost<\/a> associate itself with a communal bigot and a hatemongers. #RanaAyub<\/a> #DelhiRiots<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/rpW00atZrs<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 Naina \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf3 (@NaIna0806) February 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Many individuals including Sadhvi Khosla<\/a> called for the arrest of Ayyub. Ramesh Solanki<\/a> claimed that Ayyub shared a two-year-old video from Bihar and wrote that he has filed a police complaint against the journalist.<\/p>\n
Times Now\u00a0<\/em>broadcast a show on the DCP’s statement and declared that the video was “fake”. Right-wing website\u00a0OpIndia\u00a0<\/em>penned a report<\/a> on unverified social media claims, saying that the outlet doesn’t vouch for the authenticity of the allegations.<\/p>\n
\nPolice responds to the fake ‘mosque vandalising’ video being circulated on social media.<\/p>\n
‘No such incident took place’, says police.<\/p>\n
Details by TIMES NOW’s Priyank Tripathi. | #DelhiFightHate<\/a> | @thenewshour<\/a> AGENDA with Padmaja Joshi. pic.twitter.com\/Su324UTof2<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) February 25, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
FACT-CHECK<\/h4>\n
The Wire’s<\/em> Naomi Barton reported<\/a> that the mosque in question is in Ashok Nagar (which was earlier described as Ashok Vihar but rectified). Alt News found a higher resolution video of a mob climbing atop the minaret and hoisting a saffron flag.<\/p>\n