Various claims has made on social media about the tragedy of the partition of India. Many users make different claims about the division. These claims are primarily misleading and fake. One such claim is being made about India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and former PM Rajiv Gandhi.
A Twitter user justify Godse’s assassination of Gandhi and wrote, “Godse killed 1. Kasab hit 267. Rajiv Gandhi killed 17000 Sikhs. Nehru and Jinnah killed four million Hindus. Yet the terrorist is Godse. So believe me you have lost your mental balance.”
A similar tweet can be seen on different social media sites-
Fact check:
To analyze the viral claim, the DFRAC team did many simple searches on Google with the help of different keywords. If Nehru’s killing of four million Hindus means the tragedy of Partition, there are different reports on it. According to the report of Amar Ujala, 12 lakh people were killed during the partition of India-Pakistan. However, it is not fair to hold Nehru responsible for this.
According to webdunia.com, an estimated 10 lakh people were killed after the partition was announced.
At the same time, according to the Wikipedia page – crores of people were affected by the partition of India. Nearly one million people were killed in the violence during the partition and about 14.5 million refugees were left out of their homes.
Similarly, if Rajiv Gandhi’s claim of killing 17k Sikhs in the above claim implies the 1984 riots after Indira Gandhi’s assassination, then according to the Wikipedia page – according to the Wikipedia page- the government figure is that about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 Sikhs were killed across the country, while independent sources estimate that the death toll across the country is around 8,000. However, Rajiv Gandhi has no involvement in it.
Conclusion:
It is clear from the fact check of DFRAC that the data given by the user is misleading and baseless and their claim is fake. It is also wrong for Godse to justify Gandhi’s assassination.
Fact Reviewed: Misleading claim on Nehru-Rajiv in Godse’s defense
Claimed By: Social Media Users
Fact check: Fake
