Fact Check: 2017 image of clash among Delhi University students shared with communal angle
An image is widely being shared on social media where police officials are seen beating a group of demonstrators claiming that it shows the current situation of the minority community in India.
By Tejal Sinha Published on 14 Oct 2021 4:17 AM GMT
Hyderabad: An image is widely being shared on social media where police officials are seen beating a group of demonstrators claiming that it shows the current situation of the minority community in India.
"I do not understand why there is no sympathy at all for what happens to Muslims in India?!!! Is it only Muslims in Palestine?! Support the two together," translates the caption written in Arabic.
Fact Check
The claim is false.
When NewsMeter performed a Reverse Google Image Search of the viral image it led us to a report published by The Wire on 4 March, 2017. The report was titled 'From JNU to Ramjas, Where Has the Spirit of Studentship Disappeared?'
"From JNU to Ramjas College ā we find ourselves amidst a culture that reveals the assertion of brute power, the mob mentality, and the volcano of inflated emotions centered on the practice of 'nationalism'. With reaction and counter-reaction, physical power and intellectual arrogance, 'moral puritanism' of the radical Left and 'reactionary conservatism' of the Hindu Right, we allow ourselves to be trapped into a vicious circle that transforms our colleges and universities into war zones,"
Similarly, a report published on duupdates.in dated 23 February 2017, that had a similar picture, reads, "Teachers, students, and journalists were badly wounded in a seminar organized by the English department of Ramjas college a day ago, allegedly by the members of ABVP. Violence broke down when students of DU colleges and JNU assembled outside the college at 11 am yelling that they wouldn't let the anti-national, Umar Khalid enter the college who was invited as a guest speaker for the seminar. ABVP mob made sure that Umar wouldn't participate in the event. They were demanding action against the ABVP members who had allegedly hackled and threw stones at students who were gathered for the seminar at the conference hall on Tuesday. Before the silent march took off past 2 pm members of ABVP reached the spot and got engaged with the organizers. The policemen tried to picket out the two groups but blows and stones have left many wounded."
The team lastly found a report by Hindustan Times on 10 March 2017. The report read, "The journalism students of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce (DCAC) have alleged that the college authorities canceled the printing of their journal, which carried an article on the Ramjas College violence. The students alleged that they were not allowed to publish the journal as the article was critical of the ABVP's role in the Ramjas violence on February 22."
Hence, it is evident that the claim made through the viral post is false as the image of a clash between the students in Delhi in 2017 is being shared with a communal twist.
