Fake news rules in WB polls, Didi's 2019 statement twisted
A picture of a newspaper clipping of a Bengali daily ‘Bartaman’ is viral on social media. The text supposedly carries...
By Newsmeter Network Published on 9 April 2021 11:05 AM GMT
HYDERABAD: A picture of a newspaper clipping of a Bengali daily 'Bartaman' is viral on social media.
The text supposedly carries an "anti-Hindu" quote of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The headline reads: "Give us 42 seats, we will show how to make Hindus cry: Mamata".
The viral image is circulated with a text: "Mamta says, Win me 42 seats & I'll show you how to make the Hindus cry. Bengali newspaper BARTAMAN HEADLINES."
However, NewsMeter found that the newspaper clipping was photoshopped and certain words in the headline were replaced to frame a false narrative.
FACT CHECK:
NewsMeter ran a keyword search in Bengali on the Bartamanpatrika.com website and found the same article with the original headline that was dated April 20, 2019. The original headline reads: "Give us 42 seats and we will show you how to shake up Delhi: Mamata".
https://bartamanpatrika.com/
In the viral image, the Bengali word for Delhi (দিল্লী) was removed and replaced with word for Hindu (হিন্দু). Similarly, the word for 'shake up' (কাঁপাতে) was replaced with the word for cry (কাঁদাতে) in Bengali.
West Bengal chief minister passed this comment while campaigning in Berhampur, Odisha in April 2019.
Evidently, a 2019 Bengali newspaper clipping was edited and shared with a false narrative that Banerjee made an anti-Hindu statement while campaigning during the ongoing elections.
