The hashtag #मंदिर_विरोधी_केजरीवाल was trending on twitter on 5 October 2021. Upon analyzing the 100 Tweets, it was found that 8% were the original tweets, 85% were retweets and 7% were replies. It’s clear that most people are just amplifiers out there to retweet.
Type of Tweets using #मंदिर_विरोधी_केजरीवाल
Upon further examination of the tweets, it was found that most of the content was misleading and fake. We have listed them and fact checked the same.
Tweet 1:
The first tweet is going viral with the claim that the Kejriwal government has cut electricity to the temples and a picture is attached to it which reads “Exposing the real face of AAP, where the Kejriwal government is giving Rs 44,000 per month to mosques. The electricity connections of temples are being cut. So far, electricity connections of 350 temples have been cut.”
Other accounts also tweeted similar content with the same image attached. The copy-paste pattern was clearly visible in the tweets.
Fact Check:
Checking the claims made in the viral picture.
First claim: “Kejriwal government is giving Rs 44,000 a month to mosques”
We first searched the official website of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to check validity of the viral claim on Facebook and Twitter. During the search, we could not find any press release related to this claim.
After this we also checked the official website of Delhi Waqf Board but we could not find any clue similar to the viral claim.
On searching the viral claim in Google with the help of different keywords. During investigation, we came across media reports related to this claim published by Amar Ujala, Zee News and Navbharat Times. After reading the article, we learned that on January 23, 2019, the Delhi Waqf Board had decided to increase the salaries of the Imams of the mosques. Delhi Waqf Board Chairman Amanatullah Khan had announced to increase the salary of Imams of mosques in the presence of CM Arvind Kejriwal in a program of the Board. It was told in that program that the salary of Maulanas was increased from 10 thousand to 18 thousand and that of muezzin from 9 thousand to 16 thousand. It was also said in that program that from February, 2019, all the people will get the increased salary.
Hence the claim of giving Rs 44,000 per month to Mosques was stated in terms of salary to Imams and it does not reflect Kejriwal’s generosity towards mosques and ignorance towards temples.
So, the claim is fake and on further research, it was found that the words used in the graphic image are taken from a 2019 tweet of Kapil Mishra, which has 7460 retweets, 481 Quote Tweets and 14.3K Likes.
Second Claim: “the electricity connections of 350 temples have been cut”
On February 2019, Kapil Mishra in his tweet blamed BSES and Kejriwal for disconnecting the power supply of 350 Hindu temples. BSES issued a clarification statement on the same day that “BSES is committed to provide reliable & uninterrupted power supply to all its over 42 lakh consumers – across all categories.Power supply of no bonafide & paying consumer, including temples,has been disconnected. We urge consumers to pay their bills on time.”
Hence, the second claim is also fake.
Tweet 2:
The second tweet is viral with the content “Trending Now . #मंदिर_विरोधी_केजरीवाल Retweet Maximum Save Hindu Temples” and a picture of a demolished Hindu temple in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk is attached.
Many people have tweeted the same image with the claim that Kejriwal government has demolished an ancient Hanuman Temple in Chandni Chowk.
Fact Check:
On performing image search of the above picture, we found an article by Hindustan Times “ North MCD demolishes temple in Chandni Chowk” in which it was clearly mentioned that the North Delhi Municipal Corporation demolished a temple in Chandni Chowk on the directions of the Delhi high court.
The order to demolish the Hindu temple was not given by the Kejriwal government and the temple, located on the road which was being redesigned only for pedestrians only as part of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment plan, was declared “illegal” by the high court and the order for its removal was passed in 2015, when BJP ruled the North MCD.
Hence the image attached in the tweet is being used in a misleading manner to damage the image of Kejriwal.
