No, Danish Kaneria is not among Pakistani players offering Namaz in this photo

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BJP Mahila Morcha national in-charge of social media, Priti Gandhi, tweeted a photograph of the former Pakistani cricket team offering namaz. She wrote, “Picture of Pakistan cricket team during Inzamam-ul-Haq’s captaincy. Hindu Danish Kaneria & Christian Yousuf Youhana were asked to offer Namaz. #IndiaSupportsCAA“

The above image is being shared in the backdrop of a statement given by former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar who claimed that his former Hindu teammate Danish Kaneria was discriminated by team members on the basis of his religion. Several other teammates of the ex-Pakistan cricket team refuted the allegation including former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq. Gandhi has linked the alleged discrimination faced by Kaneria with the recent row over the newly constituted Citizenship Amendment Act (2019) which grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhist and Parsis from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Fact-check

The picture includes (from left to right): Abdul Rauf, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf (formerly Yousuf Youhana), Kamran Akmal and Umar Gul. Danish Kaneria, contrary to Gandhi’s claim, is not seen in the picture.

Abdul Rauf was the then physiotherapist for the Pakistani cricket team. His facebook profile can be found here. He works at Pain Free Centre, Lahore.

A reverse image revealed that the image shared by Gandhi is a Getty Images photo. The picture was clicked before the net practice of a Natwest International Twenty20 match at Bristol on August 27, 2006. Yousuf had announced his conversion from Christianity to Islam in September 2005 and officially changed his name from Yousuf Youhana to Mohammad Yousuf. Hence, this picture was clicked after Mohammad Yousuf’s conversion to Islam.

Thus, there is no non-Muslim person in the picture who was ‘forced’ to offer namaz. While Danish Kaneria is not in the picture, Yousuf Youhana had changed his name to Mohammad Yousuf after converting to Islam.
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