No, the elderly man pelting stone in Kanpur is not Muslim cleric from Muzaffarnagar - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
31st December 2019 / 2:15 pm / Last updated: 31st December 2019
Author Bhaavna Arora tweeted two images – a screenshot of an injured elderly man and a photo of an old man who can be seen pelting a stone – along with the message, “Chacha patharbaaji karega to kya khane ko milega? Biryani? (Uncle, if you pelt stones, what will you eat? Biryani?)”. Her tweet has garnered over 1,000 retweets.
Chacha patharbaaji karega to kya khane ko milega? Biryani? pic.twitter.com/PQhRNOlKe4
— bhaavna arora (@BhaavnaArora) December 30, 2019
Another Twitter user Vivek posted the images and quipped, “Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. https://t.co/p53dWz10z0 pic.twitter.com/sCX3UUhMGL
— Vivekk | विवेक | বিবেক | விவேக் | (@oyevivekk) December 29, 2019
One more tweet, comparing the same two images, has garnered more than 1,000 retweets so far.
Sochta hu wo kitne maasoom the,kya se kya ho gaye dekhte dekhte….. 😭😭😭 #UPPoliceZindabad pic.twitter.com/3FEpRsC2v2
— ᴬᴹᴮᴱᴿ (@dafa_ho__jao) December 30, 2019
Alt News found that the two men are not the same person as suggested on social media.
With a keyword search on Google, Alt News found a PDF version of Hindustan Times’s Lucknow edition which was published on December 22, 2019. However, according to the caption of the image, it was shot on December 21 (Saturday). “An elderly man throws a stone during the protest in Kanpur on Saturday,” reads the caption. The man is unidentified in the photo.
The other image is of Maulana Asad Raza Hussaini, 65, who along with students staying in the Saadat hostel, Muzaffarnagar, was beaten up and taken into custody by the police. Hussaini was bedridden with multiple injuries, according to a December 24 report by Firstpost. Journalist Narendra tweeted Hussaini’s image on December 29, 2019.
#मुज़फ्फरनगर के विश्वविख्यात मुस्लिम शिक्षाविद मौलाना असद रज़ा हुसैनी को @muzafarnagarpol ने दी थर्ड डिग्री,इसी साल भारत सरकार ने दिया था राष्ट्रपति पुरस्कार,मौलाना असद के अनाथालय के छात्रों को भी थर्ड डिग्री@naqvimukhtar @narendramodi @Uppolice
My story-https://t.co/fm0FCl62PK pic.twitter.com/xapZOBo9mT
— Narendra (@hindipatrakar) December 29, 2019
According to a hostel staffer quoted in a December 31 report in The Times of India, Hussaini was dragged out of the madrassa-cum-orphanage and taken to a discreet location. He was allegedly assaulted for hours before he was let off in the wee hours of December 21 following intervention by influential people from the region. The Times of India quotes his age as 72.
Another report by Bharat Samachar reports similar details. It says that Maulana Asad Raza Hussaini, a renowned Muslim cleric, was dragged out of the hostel and beaten up by Muzaffarnagar police during a search operation to comb out rioters.
In conclusion, a photograph of an injured Muslim cleric who was brutally thrashed by the police in Muzaffarnagar was falsely shared along with an image of an unidentified stone pelter to suggest that the police excess was in retaliation to stone-pelting.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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