No, Chandrashekhar Azad’s real name is NOT Naseemuddin Khan

A claim viral on social media suggests that Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan’s real name is Naseemuddin Khan. “भीम आर्मी के नेता चंद्रशेखर रावण का असली नाम नसीमुद्दीन खान है. कितने लोगों को पता था ये हिन्दुओं को तोडने की कुटिल मुस्लिम चाल (Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Ravan’s real name is Naseemuddin Khan. How many of you were aware of his devious plan to divide Hindus?)” – reads the message.

The claim, propagated by a Twitter handle Hindu First (@Hindu1stPalghar), received over 1,200 retweets and more than 2,000 likes in merely three hours.

The message is viral on Twitter.

The claim has also been shared on Facebook by various groups – मोदी सेना, pages – हिंदू राष्ट्र हिंदुत्व की पहचान, Jammu Hindus Against Rohingyas, We support hindutava Army, and individual users.

Fake news

The assertion that Azad’s real name is Naseeruddin Khan is false. The Bhim Army chief himself mocked the claim on Twitter and wrote, “जबसे ये पोस्ट पढ़ी है मेरी तो हंसी नही रुक रही है। वैसे नसीमुद्दीन नाम बुरा नही है (I cannot stop laughing since I came across this post. By the way, Naseeruddin isn’t a bad name.)”

जबसे ये पोस्ट पढ़ी है मेरी तो हंसी नही रुक रही है। वैसे नसीमुद्दीन नाम बुरा नही है 😂😂😂 https://t.co/N4bPpOlnjn

— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) June 17, 2019

Azad has built his politics around his Dalit identity – a fact known to all. According to several media reports, he hails from Chutmalpur, a small town situated near Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He is the son of late Govardhan Das who was a retired government school principal. In a 2017 interview with The Quint, Azad talked about how his father was insulted in the school due to his ‘chamar’ identity. The ‘chamar’ community is regarded as ‘Dalits’ or ‘untouchables’, however, they officially fall into the scheduled caste category.

Chandrashekhar Azad has been targetted with misinformation in the past well when Zee News and News18 misquoted the Dalit leader.