Morphed ABP News graphic shows Rahul Gandhi wants India to be Islamic nation - Alt News
Kalim Ahmed
2nd July 2021 / 7:22 pm / Last updated: 6th December 2021
A screengrab of an alleged ABP News graphic plate airing a tweet of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi is viral on social media. The screenshot has two captions on top. The first states, “Even after seeing this tweet of Pappu aired on ABP News TV channel, those who choose to support the Congress party will not only betray their country but also their religion.”
[Translated from: सही निर्णय आपकी सोच। एबीपी न्यूज़ टीवी चैनल पर भी दिखाया गए पप्पू के इस ट्वीट को देखने के बाद भी जो कांग्रेस का समर्थन करेगा वो वास्तव में अपने देश : तथा धर्म) से गद्दारी ही करेगा।]
The second caption reads, “Rahul Gandhi has tweeted this just now from Wayanad, all members of this group must read this.”
[Translated from: अभी-अभी राहुल गांधी वायनाड से ट्वीट किए हैं आप सभी ग्रुप के मेंबर यह ट्वीट जरूर पढ़ना !!]
The tweet attributed to Rahul Gandhi claims he wrote that the BJP is following the agenda of Hindu Rashtra by passing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “The agenda of our ancestors has always been an Islamic country which is why we created two Islamic countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh. We can’t witness India becoming a Hindu Rashtra,” it further states.
[Original text in Hindi: नागरिकता बिल पास करा कर बीजेपी हिंदू राष्ट्र के एजेंडे पर चल रही है हमारे पूर्वजों का एजेंडा हमेशा से इस्लामिक कंट्री पर रहा है इसीलिए हमने दो इस्लामिक कंट्री बनाएं पाकिस्तान और बांग्लादेश अब हम भारत को हिंदू राष्ट्र बनते नहीं देख सकते]
The alleged graphic plate was also shared earlier in March.
Posted by Say NO to Bollywood on Monday, 8 March 2021
The screenshot was viral on Facebook and was shared multiple times over the years. Alt News has also received several requests to verify the claim on its official WhatsApp helpline number (+91 76000 11160).
We performed an advanced search on Twitter using multiple keywords in Hindi and English but were unable to find the tweet. Moreover, the alleged tweet featured on the viral screenshot carries many grammatical errors, apart from the absence of punctuation marks such as comma and full-stop.
The two captions on top of the screenshot have been circulating for a few years now. Vishwas News had debunked the fake tweet after it was posted by Facebook user Vikram Singh Bhati in 2019. The second caption matches the message Bhati had shared two years ago.
Alt News juxtaposed the viral screenshot with a genuine screenshot from a video posted by ABP news on YouTube.
There are a few dissimilarities that can be observed:
1. The font in the viral image is completely different from the font used in the genuine graphic plate.
2. The shade of red used in the logo as well as around the borders is darker in the viral image.
3. In the viral image, there is no shadow behind the file image of Rahul Gandhi. In fact, there appears to be a blur (marked using a green arrow). This suggests that a genuine graphic could have been overlayed with the file image.
Alt News spoke with Sanjay Bragta, Vice President News Gathering at ABP News Network (ANN), who denied that the viral graphic was broadcasted by the channel. Moreover, had Rahul Gandhi tweeted something of this nature, it would’ve been covered by the media since he is one of the leading opposition members. But no reports exist.
Hence, a morphed ABP News graphic plate is viral to portray that Congress wanted to establish India as an Islamic country.
Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc
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