On June 28, two Muslim men beheaded a tailor named Kanhaiya Lal Sahu at his shop in Rajasthan’s Udaipur. The two assailants recorded the barbaric incident on their phones and later uploaded it on social media. They termed the killing ‘revenge’ for the alleged derogatory remarks made on the Prophet of Islam by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in a TV news debate.

Amidst the tense situation all across the country, a video is widely circulating on social media where we can see an older man in Muslim attire being interrogated by a group of people. In the video, the people press the elderly man to reveal his identity and they ask him to present witnesses to vouch for his identity. However, the elderly man refuses to utter a word and he continues to remain silent while the locals speak to the police officers who were called to the scene.

The video is viral with the claim that the elderly man seen in the video is allegedly linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and was preparing to instigate riots in Jaipur by posing as a Muslim. He was wearing kurta-pyjama and sporting a beard.

Twitter user @Mainbhichanakya shared this video claiming it to be from Zubeida Mosque in Jaipur.

The Twitter account of ‘The CJ Werleman Show’ also shared this video with similar claims.

Similarly, a Twitter account called ‘The Muslim News’ shared this video. Some users have also shared this video with the conspiracy theory that the two Muslim men who murdered Kanhaiya Lal could have links to RSS, just like the man seen in the viral clip.

It must be noted that at a time when religious tension has aggravated in the country, such claims can add fuel to fire and instigate further violence. Unverified claims circulating on social media should be met with caution.

Fact-check

We started with a keyword search in Hindi and found the earliest instance of the video shared with the same claim. The video was shared on Twitter on June 14, which means that it precedes the murder of tailor Kanhaiya Lal.

We reached out to a local journalist who told us that this incident indeed took place at the Zubaida Masjid in Jaipur. However, he dismissed the claims made on social media and said that a misunderstanding led to people confronting the man. The journalist helped us connect with the locals who were present at the scene. He also connected us with the local police.

According to Mohammad Salim (55), the secretary of Zubaida Mosque, he along with three other people were the ones who had approached this man. They were concerned about his identity as he was frequently visiting the area to collect donations for various causes. “This man has visited this locality a couple of times. Each time he visits, he asks people to donate for different causes – sometimes he is asking for donations for a mosque, sometimes it is about a madrassa or it is about his daughter, so we got suspicious,” said Salim.

He further added, “When the head priest of the masjid and I, along with two other elders, approached this man, we tried to talk to him to find out his identity. As we were talking, he got angry and started cursing me, saying how dare I question his Imaan (faith). He even physically attacked me. Hearing his loud voice, all the people gathered inside the mosque and they started recording. I continued asking him about his identity but he was not cooperating. This went on for over 1.5 hours and the number of people kept increasing. He gave us a few details which we verified immediately and all of them turned out to be false. Ultimately, we handed him to the police and they found that he is from Tonk town.”

Mohammad Salim speaking to the police

“When we took him to the police station, he cooperated with the police and told them that he had converted to Islam 10-15 years ago. The police called his wife, and she came to the police station wearing a burkha and begged us to drop the complaint, so we did. Now, I don’t know if he has links to RSS or not, the police did not tell us that,” said Salim.

Alt News reached out to SHO Mukesh Khardia of Galta Gate Police Station. As per SHO Mukesh, the incident took place on June 14. “This claim on social media is completely false. We have investigated the entire matter and even traced his family. The name of the man seen in the viral video is Mohammad Umar. He converted many years ago. He married a woman named Sajida, and later he converted. People got suspicious because he did not cooperate and they checked if he was circumcised – which he was not, because he was a convert. He even has four children – Abdullah Mohin, Sabir, Taneez and Fatima,” said the police officer.

He further added, “If there are allegations that he has links to the RSS, let the Masjid Committee provide the evidence because we could not find such links. We even filed a suo moto case under IPC Section 151 and Umar was presented to the magistrate the next day. The magistrate ordered him to be careful and not to cause such disturbance at least for the next 6 months.”

Alt News spoke with a relative of Mohammad Umar’s wife Sajida, who wishes to remain anonymous. As per the relative, Mohammad Umar was upset that people were suspicious of him. He had converted many years ago and he found it very offensive that people had questioned his faith.

To sum it up, an elderly man, who had converted to Islam more than a decade ago, was confronted and allegedly harassed by locals who were suspicious of his identity. He did not cooperate and allegedly attacked one of the locals, which worsened things. There’s no evidence that suggests that this man was associated with the RSS or he was there to instigate riots.

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About the Author

Kalim is a journalist with a keen interest in tech, misinformation, culture, etc