Old photo shared as Muslim men in Tripura stand with burnt religious textbooks

by Aqib Pathan

A photograph of two men standing with charred books in their hands has been shared claiming the image was taken in Tripura. Viral claims insinuate that the charred books were religious textbooks of the Muslim community.

Fact-check

A reverse-image search on Google led us to a tweet from June 13, 2021. The user wrote that nearly 56 shanties were gutted in a fire that broke out in a Rohingya refugee camp in Delhi.

Journalist Aasif Mujtaba had shared the picture after it began circulating as Tripura. “We got these images when @miles2smile_ started the relief work in June this year,” he wrote. Miles2Simle is a not-for-profit based out of Delhi that works with victims of violence. Mujtaba is the founder of the organisation.

Alt News reached out to Mujtaba who informed, “These photos are from a recent fire mishap that took place on the nights of June 12 this year at a Rohingya refugee camp at Kanchan Kunj. These were clicked by a friend @mdmeharban03. These two men are from the refugees families whose shanties got gutted in the fire”

“The massive fire, which broke out at 11:55 pm, turned all 56 shanties in the refugee camp into ashes within minutes. All the occupants lost everything they owned. Strong winds helped fuel the fire,” reported Newsclick adding that locals and the refugees alleged that the fire was not at all an accidental incident, but a manufactured one.

The image thus shows Rohingya men with charred books. It is unrelated to the communal violence in Tripura where Muslim properties and shops were vandalised and also set ablaze. At least seven people have died in the violence.

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About the Author

Aqib is monitoring and researching mis/disinformation at Alt News