Congress complaint over fake news: BJP members accused of creating enmity, panic

Hyderabad: The Congress filed a complaint against unidentified persons affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for allegedly spreading fake news to mislead and provoke people by creating enmity between groups ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The complaint said that the videos are available in the public domain and are being uploaded and shared by representatives of the BJP, individuals associated with the BJP and other unknown individuals.

Most of the complaints were about videos, which the Congress claimed in the complaint, portray a false agenda of Congress and party leader Rahul Gandhi regarding talks about wealth re-distribution and caste census in the country.

“In fact, there is a clear and well-hatched conspiracy to mislead the voters against the Indian National Congress; create communal tensions in the public, and provoke the general public to act out and breach peace during the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” the complaint said.

The complaint stated that there are three kinds of fake videos in circulation:

Distorted, doctored or edited videos to mislead voters

The complaint had a list of social media links that Congress said had viral videos of fake news about Rahul Gandhi and Congress. “The doctored videos uploaded by individuals associated with the BJP as well as its leaders to insinuate a false impression in the minds of people and inciting hatred against a particular religious community,” the complaint said.

Videos created solely to promote enmity and hatred among communities

The Congress pointed out the viral video published by the official Instagram handle of the BJP. The complaint said that the ‘Instagram Reel created as part of BJP’s electoral campaign unambiguously stated that as per the Congress if voted to power will snatch wealth from the non-minorities and distribute it to the minorities.’

On Saturday, the Rajendra Nagar Police in Hyderabad booked a case against the official Instagram handle of BJP ‘bjp4India’ for circulating an inflammatory and communal anti-Muslim animated advertisement promoting enmity and hatred against Indian Muslims. The video has since been deleted from the account.

According to the complaint filed against the video by an activist, “The animated video started with an animated image of prime minister Narendra Modi accompanied by a voice-over appeal. Shiba Minai said that the content in the animated video was malicious; it claimed that the Congress Party harbours intentions to unlawfully seize the wealth of non-Muslims to redistribute it exclusively among Muslims. The video additionally depicted Muslims as infiltrators.”

The Instagram page bjp4india boasted a staggering follower count exceeding 7.7 million.

Videos containing only excerpts to mislead with incomplete context

The Congress in the complaint gave an example where only a section of a video was deliberately put into circulation to mislead the public. They alleged that Amit Malviya, the IT head of the BJP, ‘deliberately shared a partial clipping of a video that falsely showed Rahul Gandhi refusing to accept a religious idol at an INC event.’

“The video goes to falsely implicate Rahul Gandhi and the Indian National Congress of disrespecting and offending religious sentiments by deliberately refusing to accept a religious idol presented to him,” the complaint said.

The complaint also stated that ‘the individuals involved in the publication and circulation of these videos are not first-time offenders but have made repeated efforts to spread misinformation and mislead the general public, posing a threat to the maintenance of peace within the society.’

The complaint requests the Delhi police to register an FIR under sections 153A, 153B, 171G 295A, 504, 505, 120 of the IPC, 1860; Section 66C of the IT Act, 2000; Section 123 (3) and Section 123 (3A), Section 125 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and/or any other offences that may be revealed during the investigation.