A Facebook page that goes by the name हिन्दू धर्म योद्धा or ‘Warrior of the Hindu religion’ has shared a post claiming that the poor girl collecting oil from Diwali lamps in Ayodhya was a Rohingya Muslim. The post has drawn 15,000 shares so far. “इस अवैध रोहींगया लड़की को वाम और सेकुलर गैंग ने एक षड़यंत्र के तहत अयोध्या पहुंचाया ज़िससे एक झूठा प्रोपेगैंडा फैलाय़ा जा सके , अरे बेशर्मो तुम्हारा प्लान फेल हो गया (Left and secular gang brought this illegal Rohingya girl to Ayodhya through a conspiracy so that a false propaganda can be spread.)”
On October 26, over 5 lakh ‘diyas’ were lighted as part of “Deepotsav” festival in Ayodhya, an event which was given the status of ‘state fair’ by the UP government. The cabinet had also approved an estimated budget of Rs 1.33 crore for the festival.
The post is viral on Facebook and has also been massively shared on Twitter.
इस अवैध रोहींगया लड़की को वाम और सेकुलर गैंग ने एक षड़यंत्र के तहत अयोध्या पहुंचाया ज़िससे एक झूठा प्रोपेगैंडा फैलाय़ा जा सके , अरे बेशर्मो तुम्हारा प्लान फेल हो गया🤘 pic.twitter.com/Ag8RpvCKd5
— Manoj (@Manoj37683203) October 31, 2019
FACT-CHECK
The image on top was clicked two years ago in Bangladesh and shows a Rohingya refugee girl who fled from Myanmar on September 6, 2017.
A comparison of the facial features of this girl and the one in Ayodhya evidently proves that the two are different people. They have distinct features – eye colour, nose, lips.
Furthermore, the image of the impoverished girl in Ayodhya appeared on the internet on October 29.
20,000 litre oil used to light up 500,000 earthen lamps in Ayodhya. Total cost: 133 crores. Here a poor girl trying to collect a little oil from these diyas to take home. Look at the fear in her eyes. Is this our idea of Ram Rajya? pic.twitter.com/5ysbGDTjwS
— Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) October 29, 2019
There’s also a video of the girl collecting oil from the lamps. The misinformation was earlier debunked by Boomlive.
133 करोड़ की दीवाली का दिवाला निकाल दिया इस लड़की ने ,सच यही है देश का गिनीज बुक वाले अंधे को ये बात लिखनी चाहिए कि देश मे गरीबो की कीमत नही है लेकिन 133 करोड़ का नाटक जरूर करना है देश की जनता को नोटंकी में जीना ही पसंद है। pic.twitter.com/rFYPRvq2kT
— Mini Muvel (@MiniMuvel) October 30, 2019
While this girl’s identity could not be established, it is certain that she is not the Rohingya refugee girl whose photograph was shot in 2017.
