True, Balbir Singh who participated in Babri Masjid demolition converted to Islam
By Vamsi Krishna Pothuru Published on 8 Aug 2020 4:00 AM GMT
Hyderabad: On 5 August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for Ayodhya Ram Mandir putting an end to the long-drawn Ram janma bhumi dispute. Demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992 is the significant event in the course of the dispute. In the past few days, several posts on the Ram mandir and Babri Masjid have been circulating on social media.
One such post claims that Balbir Singh, who dealt the first blow to Babri Masjid, converted to Islam and has helped build over 90 mosques. The Telegu post, when translated, reads, "Balbir Singh, the karsevak who made the first strike on the Babri Masjid, converted to Islam with the mercy of Allah. With a firm resolve to build 100 mosques, he has now built up to 90 mosques. Let's hope his dream comes true soon."
The post has 1.1 thousand likes and 558 shares so far.
The same claim is also shared on Twitter.
The archived claims can be found here and here.
Fact Check:
It is TRUE that Balbir Singh, who participated in the demolition of Babri Masjid as a kar sevak, converted to Islam and has helped repair and rebuild 100 mosques. NewsMeter found several news articles from 2017 and 2018 to support the claim.
In 2017, Mumbai Mirror had reported that Balbir Singh was a kar sevak who participated in the razing of the Babri Masjid.
Today as Mohammed Amir, his goal is to repair and rebuild 100 mosques. Twenty-five years ago he was not Mohammad Amir but Balbir Singh and the highlight of his life until then was that he was among the handful of kar sevaks who had clambered up the dome of Babri Masjid to strike the first blows.
Mohammed Amir, who was a born into a Rajput family, told India Today in 2018, "I realized that I had taken law in my hands and violated the constitution of India. Guilty, I embraced Islam."
A search on YouTube also led to his interview to UP Tak News. This interview has been uploaded on UP Tak's official Youtube channel on 30 October 2019.
So, it is TRUE that Balbir Singh who took part in the demolition of Babri Masjid converted to Islam and is determined to help repair and rebuild 100 mosques.
