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No, This Poster In Kerala Does Not Say ‘Want To Eat Beef? Vote Congress'
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
Kerala, 3 March 2023 10:59 AM GMT
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Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
A poster by the Congress party is being widely circulated across social media. The poster is being shared with the claim that the party is asking for votes to ensure freedom to consume beef in Kerala.
A poster by the Congress party showing a person eating food and picture of party leader Rahul Gandhi in it is being widely circulated across social media. The poster is being shared with the claim that the party is asking for votes to ensure freedom to consume beef in Kerala.
Claim:
The poster shows a person eating food and gesturing towards the camera. The image of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the party’s symbol is seen on the poster. A phrase in Malayalam can be seen on the poster.
The viral image is captioned, “Very disgusting Congress poster in Kerala... It is written on the poster, "If you want to eat beef, then vote for Congress". This is the same Rahul Gandhi who goes around as a supreme Shiv Bhakt Hindu and then asks for votes on beef in Kerala…”
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral image is almost 4 years old and presented out of context.
We used Google Lens to translate the phrase written in Malayalam on the poster. The Malayalam words in hoarding reads. “എനിക്കറിയണം ഭക്ഷണത്തിന്റെ പേരിൽ കൊല്ലുന്നോ? ഈ നാട്ടിൽ? ഈ കാലത്ത് ?പ്രാകൃത രാഷ്ട്രീയം വേണ്ട വിഭവമില്ലാത്തവർ വരോടു”
and translation of which into English reads, “I want to know. Killing for food? In this country? At this time? No primitive politics, let the indiscriminate ones come.”
The text translates to, ""I want to know, people are being killed in the name of food? In this country? In this era? We don't want politics of barbarity. Let those who don't discriminate come to power."
We observed the image carefully and found Kerala's Congress-led alliance United Democratic Front's (UDF) logo on the poster. Taking a hint from it, we conducted a reverse image search and came across a post by ‘Voice of IUML’ published on April 3, 2019. The post contains the same viral image and is captioned, “Let us not forget ourselves and vote for UDF. Support Rahulji, for the country's good and the people's salvation. vote for UDF, vote for UPA”.
The Congress party released these posters before the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, which commenced on April 11, 2019.
We also reached out to Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief K Sudhakaran on this issue. His private secretary George Lawrence, confirmed that the poster was from 2019, and it has no reference to the beef angle.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral image does not feature an appeal by the Congress party to seek votes in return for ensuring freedom to eat beef in Kerala. The posters refer to the party opposing killings based on food. The poster states, “Say no to archaic politics, say no to bigotry.” Hence, the viral claim is false.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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