Madhu Kishwar tweets 2011 video to claim Muslim man wore Sikh turban during CAA protest

New Delhi: Writer and academician Madhu Kishwar tweeted a video Monday that showed policemen removing the turban of a man during a protest. She claimed in her post that the man was a Muslim who had disguised himself as a Sikh to prove that the two communities were together against the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by the Narendra Modi government.

The video posted at 5 pm Monday had got more than 23,000 views at the time of publishing, garnering over 2,000 likes and over 1,200 retweets.

“Muslims opposed to the CAA are wearing turbans to show Sikhs and Muslims are together in their protest. Beware of this,” her tweet in Hindi read.

CAA के विरोध मुसलमान पगङी पहनकर कर रहें हैं
जिससे लगे कि सिक्ख मुसलमानों के साथ जुड़ गए हैं। सावधान रहें। बेईमानी तो इन #papistanis की रग रग में घुस गई है। pic.twitter.com/YaTdoKx4DJ

— MadhuPurnima Kishwar (@madhukishwar) February 10, 2020

FactCheck

This video is not from the CAA protests but from 2011 when rural veterinary pharmacists in Mohali, Punjab, were staging a sit-in against the state government demanding regularisation of their jobs.

On 28 March 2011, the agitation turned violent when the protesters violated prohibitory orders and gathered near the PCA stadium in Mohali.

At the time, the Punjab Police had resorted to lathicharge, and at least one Sikh protester’s turban was forcibly removed by a police officer.

The All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) had demanded the resignation of Punjab Chief Minister (and Akali Dal leader) Parkash Singh Badal after the incident.

In response to Kishwar’s tweet, journalist Abhinandan Sekhri called her out for circulating fake news, and said she was “completely unhinged”. Author and political commentator Meghnad tagged Twitter and questioned why the microblogging site had not taken down Madhu Kishwar’s tweet.

have you no shame to repeatedly blast fake news from your twitter? You're completely unhinged.

— Abhinandan Sekhri (@AbhinandanSekhr) February 10, 2020

Hi @TwitterSafety @TwitterIndia, I thought you had rolled out a system to highlight misleading videos? Where is it? Why isn't this video flagged yet?

— Meghnad (@Memeghnad) February 10, 2020

This is not the first time Kishwar has been called out for circulating fake news. In June 2019, Kishwar tweeted a photo, which falsely showed journalist Rana Ayyub calling to uphold human rights of child rapists.

In 2018, Kishwar tweeted news about the suspension of the police officer who killed militant commander Burhan Wani in Kashmir. The Jammu and Kashmir Police had responded at the time by saying it was shocked to read the concocted information that Kishwar was sharing.

More than shocked to read concoted information being shared by a senior journalist like you @madhukishwar .No SP has been suspended.Kindly check before sharing such information. https://t.co/IJDQI691YX

— J&K Police (@JmuKmrPolice) May 28, 2018

ThePrint is now on Telegram. For the best reports & opinion on politics, governance and more, subscribe to ThePrint on Telegram.