Viral: Fake quote attributed to journalist Ravish Kumar on Ghazipur rape case

इसके लिए असहिष्णुता दिखाने का वक्त नही आ गया है क्या अब??? Is it not time to show intolerance towards him? (translated). With these words, a photograph has been posted on Facebook by a page Deshhit Ki Baat which has more than 75000 followers. On April 29, 2018, it posted this picture which has so far been shared more than 8000 times. According to the words on the picture, journalist Ravish Kumar has called the rape of 11-year old Gita (name changed) as consensual sex.

This image with the message has also been shared by the page Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar. This page has less than 5000 followers but this particular post with the false claim about Ravish Kumar too has been shared more than 8000 times at the time of writing.

This pictorial message is being shared on numerous groups and pages on Facebook. It has been shared by WE SUPPORT NARENDRA MODI which is a page with more than 26 lakh followers. Another group with 9 lakh followers, BJP ON FACEBOOK, has also shared it. It has also been posted by BJP for New India which has over 5 lakh followers. Yet another page Bharatiya Yuva Shakti which has more than 1 lakh followers has also posted it. The list of pages and groups which have shared this picture is long.

It is not only on Facebook but also on Twitter that this image has been shared. As can be seen, the picture is being shared on various social media platforms with the same message, “Is it not time to show intolerance about him?” which suggests that this is also circulating on WhatsApp.

इसके लिए असहिष्णुता दिखाने का वक्त नही आ गया है क्या अब??? pic.twitter.com/CUq5946HPn

— SUNIL KUMAR (@sunil03302036) April 29, 2018

Ravish Kumar has not made any such statement and he has clarified this on his Facebook page. He says, “There are various rumours being spread in my name with regard to the Ghazipur rape case. What is being circulated on social media are not my words and can never be. IT cell is making this (fake message) viral to provoke people against me. You can see a sample of this, and also of the abuse. Then think what could be the motive of this political culture” (translated). Ravish Kumar has posted this viral image himself in his clarificatory post.

Ravish Kumar has often been on the crosshairs of right wingers. We had earlier seen how various rumours were spread in his name. Alt News had reported how a stranger was presented as Ravish Kumar’s sister and misinformation was sought to be circulated about him. He is often at the receiving end of abuse on WhatsApp. Alt News had also reported about the people who had targeted Kumar systematically on WhatsApp. He would forcibly be added to groups even after he had left them. When he had expressed his anguish about the abuse he had received, a person named Niraj Dave messaged him on WhatsApp saying, “I am sad you are alive”. This Niraj Dave was earlier followed by the Prime Minister. In this WhatsApp group was also present Nikhil Dadhich who had made a venomous comment on Gauri Lankesh’s death. Dadhich is followed on Twitter by PM Modi and Piyush Goyal.

Ravish Kumar had also posted a list of phone numbers from which he regularly gets abuses and threats, on his Facebook page. There are some phone numbers from abroad as well.

Alt News appeals to readers to not instinctively believe the statements that are often attributed to public figures on social media. Earlier as well, fake quotes ascribed to Kumar have been circulated. In case readers come across statements attributed to Kumar, they can verify the same on the official Facebook page of the journalist.