Published 20:31 IST, January 3rd 2020
PATHETIC: Pakistan PM Imran Khan attacks India with old B'desh video claiming it's from UP
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday tweeted an old video from Bangladesh claiming it as scenes of violence on Muslims in India's Uttar Pradesh
In what can be called a deliberate attempt to mobilise, and spread fake news, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday tweeted a video from Bangladesh claiming it as scenes of violence on Muslims in India. The video posted by Pakistan Prime Minister clearly shows Police personnel wearing vest of Rapid Action Battalion, an anti-crime and anti-terrorism unit of the Bangladesh Police. This comes at the backdrop of BJP leading a nationwide campaign in India for outreach on the recently amended citizenship law, and for quashing fake news on it.
Even as there have been nationwide protests in India against the act, Imran Khan spread misinformation on CAA, claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has been targeting the Muslims. However, it was found that the video is from Bangladesh. The video had been circulating widely on social media after CAA was passed by Parliament and protest began by sections of some media.
On doing a fact check, it was found that the gory video of Police beating up protesters is from Dhaka, Bangladesh, and is around seven years old. In the video, the vest can be seen with RAB written on it, clearly proving it to be scenes from Bangladesh.
When the screengrab from the video was searched on Google, reports suggested that, on May 6, 2013, Dhaka witnessed a clash between protesters and police over the blasphemy law. The protest was organised by the group Hefazat-e Islam, demanding an anti-blasphemy law with provision for the death penalty.
Pakistan's fake news
This is not the first time that Pakistan has attempted to peddle fake news on an internal matter of India. When India abrogated Article 370 last year, the security forces categorically called out the fake news peddled by Pakistan including Imran Khan, who alleged that the Indian government had been targeting Kashmiris in the valley. After the revocation of Article 370 and integration of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs Ali Haider Zaidi tweeted a video, claiming it to be from the Kashmir valley wherein a skirmish broke out between the Armed Forces and local residents. Calling PM Modi the 'Hitler of the East,' Pak PM Imran Khan's Minister even urged US President Donald Trump to "impose trade sanctions on India." However, it was found that old video from Haryana.
Updated 22:02 IST, January 3rd 2020