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Old Image Of Damaged Statue Of BR Ambedkar Goes Viral With Communal Claim
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.
West Bengal, 19 Oct 2022 11:04 AM GMT
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As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
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.
While sharing this image, social media users claimed that there has been a clash between the Dalits and Muslims in West Bengal, in which some anti-social elements vandalized the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim.
An image of a broken statue of B.R. Ambedkar is going viral on social media. In the viral image, the broken glasses and nose of the idol can be seen. It is being said that the viral image is from Bengal. While sharing this image, social media users claimed that there has been a clash between the Dalits and Muslims in West Bengal, in which some anti-social elements vandalized the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar.
A Twitter user shared this image and wrote a caption in Hindi which reads, "पश्चिम बंगाल में दलित/ मुस्लिम झपड़ में कुछ खुराफाती तत्व ने अंबेडकर के मूर्ति की नाक काटी और चश्मे को भी छतिग्रस्त कर डाला. अब किसी भीमटे के गांव में दम हो तो उन खुराफाती तत्व पर दलित एक्ट लगाकर दिखाऐ."
[English Translation: In the Dalit/Muslim clash in West Bengal, some evil elements cut the nose of Ambedkar's idol and also damaged the glasses. Now if there is power in village of the Bhimte, then show it by imposing a Dalit act on those evil elements.]
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Claim:
The Statue of B.R. Ambedkar was vandalized in West Bengal during the clash between Dalits and Muslims.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral image is from Madhya Pradesh and is almost 6 months old.
During the initial investigation, we did an open keyword search to know whether there has been any recent incident of vandalising the statue of BR Ambedkar in West Bengal. However, we could not find any news report which can corroborate the viral claim. We then did a google reverse search and found a report of The Quint dated 15 March 2022 in which a similar image can be seen. According to the report, the viral incident took place in Muskra village, Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. As per sources, the statue of Bhim Rao Ambedkar was vandalised by unknown persons at night.
According to a report of Amar Ujala dated 15 March 2022, a case was registered against an unidentified person and an investigation is being done. The report quoted Mandi police station in-charge Harisingh Parmar who had expressed apprehension that this act could be of a drug addict. "People from many villages use the road where the statue is being installed. Maybe a drug/alcohol addict has damaged Ambedkar's statue. Police will soon complete the investigation and nab the accused", Harishing Parmar told media.
We also contacted Sehore police to know more about the incident. SHO Harisingh Parmar said, "There was no angle of Dalit-Muslim clash involved in this case. Probably, there was some drug addict who had damaged Ambedkar's statue. A new statue has been installed on 15th August."
We have not been able to get information about the accused in this case till the time of writing this report. We will update the story once we received any information on this case. However, it is to be noted that none of the media outlet reported any Dalit-Muslim clash angle in the case so far.
Conclusion:
It is evident from our investigation that the viral image is not from West Bengal but from the Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh. Media reports suggest that the incident took place in March 2022 and probably some drug addict damaged the statue. We didn't find any involvement of Dalit-Muslim clash in this case so far. 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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