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Category: Delhi

  • Fake ABP, Aaj Tak opinion polls viral in run-up to Delhi elections; channels issue statement

    In the run-up to the Delhi assembly polls to be held on February 5, several opinion polls are viral on social media. Some opinion polls project a landslide win for the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party while some project a win for the BJP.

    Is AAP Projected to Win with 58-60 seats as Claimed by its Leader?

    On February 4, the district president of AAP women wing in Delhi Sakshi Gupta tweeted an opinion poll purportedly released by news outlet ABP, which projected a whopping 58-60 seats for AAP, 10-12 seats for the BJP and zero seats for Congress. “Kejriwal is making a comeback”, remarked Gupta while sharing a video of the purported opinion polls. The video momentarily shows ABP journalist Pooja Sachdeva before tickers detailing the opinion poll show up on screen. (Archive)

    Several other users, noticeably signed with the Aam Aadmi Party, tweeted the video. (Archives- 1, 2, 3)

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    It is pertinent to note that opinion polls are usually conducted after the voting ends. Consequently, we did not find any opinion poll officially released by ABP News. Furthermore, ABP News issued a statement wherein they denied having published any such opinion poll.

    Upon a closer look at the video, we also noticed some discrepancies in the viral video. For instance, the audio does not match what Sachdeva says in the beginning. A slowed-down version of this part is attached below.


    Taking cue from this, we took a key frame from the beginning of the viral video where Sachdeva is visible and ran it through Google reverse image search. We were able to trace it back to an ABP news clip. The original clip shows Pooja Sachdeva reporting on Rahul Gandhi’s campaign in Delhi’s Patparganj and Okhla on January 28. A side-by-side comparison of the viral clip and the original clip is attached below. If one compares Sachdeva’s hand gestures, one can understand that the clips are same, only the audio replaced.

    Similar Opinion Poll also Tweeted by AAP Leader, this time Attributed to Aaj Tak

    Sakshi Gupta had put out another opinion poll projecting AAP win, this time attributing it to Aaj Tak. The tweet, now deleted, consisted of a video which predicted AAP would win 56-58 seats while BJP would win 12-14 seats and Congress would win zero seats. Here is an archive of her tweet.

    This has also been tweeted by several users. (Archives- 1, 2, 3)

    A Facebook page named Phir Layenge Kejriwal-फिर लाएंगे केजरीवाल also posted the viral video and garnered 2.6k likes and over 450 shares.

    सबसे बड़ा ओपिनियन पोल, चौथी बार इतिहास रचने जा रही है AAP 😍😍

    Posted by Phir Layenge Kejriwal-फिर लाएंगे केजरीवाल on Sunday 2 February 2025

    Fact Check

    Aaj Tak released a fact-check report of the viral video stating that no such opinion poll had been conducted by them. The report additionally states that the voice of Aaj Tak anchor Saeed Ansari had been modified using AI to make the commentary that can be heard in the background. Ansari also denied announcing any such opinion poll. Moreover, the report noted that certain text seen in the video has overlapping text, which is unusual for news tickers.

    Graphic retrieved from Aaj Tak fact-check report

    Another feature that indicates that the audio may have been AI-generated is that a lot of words have been pronounced in an anglicized manner. For instance, the word Delhi has been pronounced with a ड-sound instead of a द-sound.

    Opinion Poll viral, this time Projecting Landslide Win for the BJP

    A video of a purported opinion poll by ABP News is also viral on social media. According to it, the BJP is projected to win 49 seats while the AAP and Congress parties are projected to win 16 and five seats respectively. User @ManojSr60583090 tweeted the video and garnered 20.5k views and 544 retweets at time of the writing of this article. (Archive)

    Right-wing influencer @JaipurDialogues also tweeted the viral video and garnered close to 27k views. (Archive)

    Another Opinion Poll is also viral which projects the BJP winning 47 seats, 17 seats for AAP and six seats for the Congress. (Archive)

    Fact Check

    As mentioned earlier, ABP News has not conducted an opinion poll for the Delhi elections yet. Taking to Twitter, the outlet categorically denied publishing such opinion polls They issued two consequent statements for the two viral opinion polls.

    “We will take legal action against such people”, read one of their statements. Read here and here.

    Click to view slideshow.

    The trend of politicians and influencers sharing misleading opinion polls on social media often falsely attributing them to reputable media outlets is, however, not a new one. The 2025 Delhi assembly polls have proven to be no exception.

    The post Fake ABP, Aaj Tak opinion polls viral in run-up to Delhi elections; channels issue statement appeared first on Alt News.

    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Shinjinee Majumder.

  • Delhi polls: Viral pamphlet calling Arvind Kejriwal messiah of Muslims at least 5-year old

    Polling for the 70 seats of the Delhi assembly elections is set to be held on February 5, with results slated for February 8. Against this backdrop, a pamphlet with a picture of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is doing the rounds on social media. It states that Muslims from New Delhi should vote for Kejriwal for the betterment of the community, and that he is the messiah of the community.

    BJP and Narendra Modi supporter Jitendra Pratap Singh, who often spreads false information, shared an image of the pamphlet on his X handle and wrote, “On one hand Kejriwal is becoming a Hinduist, on the other hand his party is distributing such pamphlets in Muslim areas. The Hindus of Delhi should read this.” (Archived link)

    BJP-supporter and verified X user @kreatelyMedia has often been found posting misleading and communal, hate-filled posts. @kreatelyMedia, too, made the same claim by tweeting the image. (Archived link)

    Chandan Sharma, another X user who has been found spreading misinformation in the past, shared the image and made an appeal to residents of New Delhi to vote for BJP for the sake of their children’s future. (Archived link) 

    Alt News also received several requests to verify the image on the WhatsApp helpline (7600011160).

    Fact Check

    We performed a reverse image search of the viral image of the pamphlet, which led us to a report by Aaj Tak, published on February 6, 2020. According to the report, the same pamphlet had also gone viral during the 2020 elections. However, the report does not mention which party or individual was responsible for publishing it.

    We noticed that the image in the Aaj Tak report shows a newspaper placed below the pamphlet with the date Thursday, February 6, 2020 written on it, indicating that the image of the viral pamphlet is not recent.

    X handle @vimal_thinks also shared a picture of this pamphlet on February 6, 2020.

    To sum up, a five-year-old picture of a pamphlet that calls Arvind Kejriwal the messiah of Muslims is falsely being shared in connection with the upcoming Delhi assembly elections.

    The post Delhi polls: Viral pamphlet calling Arvind Kejriwal messiah of Muslims at least 5-year old appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • BJP Delhi, party leaders share doctored image to show potholes on roads

    On December 27, the national capital of New Delhi witnessed rainfall, leading to a further drop in temperatures across the region. Following the rains, BJP leaders shared a photo on social media that showed a man riding a motorcycle on a waterlogged road filled with potholes. Accompanying the image was a caption that stated, “AAP’s lie – roads like London-Paris, Delhi’s truth – potholes on the roads.” The criticism was directed at Delhi chief minister Atishi and the Aam Aadmi Party. BJP leaders used the image to highlight the poor condition of Delhi’s roads after light rainfall.

    The official social media accounts of BJP Delhi, including its X handle and Facebook page, also shared the image with a caption mocking the AAP government’s infrastructure claims. The caption read, “After a little rain, the condition of the roads is of European standard.” (Archived link 1, link 2)

    BJP IT Cell national head Amit Malviya amplified the claim by sharing the same image on his social media accounts. It is important to note that Malviya has a history of sharing misleading and inaccurate information on social media platforms. (Archived link)

    Several other BJP leaders also circulated the image to reinforce similar claims against the AAP government. These included Santosh Ojha, president of BJP Delhi Purvanchal Morcha and BJP scheduled caste morcha Delhi, along with leaders such as Sanjeev Choudhary and Rajiv Babbar.  (Archived link 1, link 2, link 3, link 4)

    Supporters and members of the BJP further amplified the image with the same claim.

    Fact-check

    To verify the authenticity of the viral image, Alt News performed a reverse image search. This led us to a similar photograph uploaded by photographer Sanchit Khanna on the Getty Images website on September 30, 2024.

    Getty Images is a well-known photo stock platform where professional photographers and photojournalists upload their work. There are some significant differences between the original image on Getty Images and the one being circulated. In the original, the road did show some signs of wear and damage, but it did not contain as many potholes and craters as depicted in the viral version. 

    According to the caption provided with the image, Delhi chief minister Atishi, along with officials from the public works department (PWD), inspected road conditions near the Outer Ring Road in Kalkaji on September 30, 2024. During this inspection, the chief minister identified potholes near the NSIC complex and instructed officials to ensure that repairs were completed before Diwali.

    It is worth noting that the original image dates back to September 30, and is unrelated to the rainfall that occurred recently. 

    Media outlets such as News18 and Hindustan Times had reported on the September 30 inspection. Their coverage highlighted that chief minister Atishi, accompanied by engineers from the PWD, had surveyed several roads in Delhi. During the inspection, Atishi reassured residents that the roads would be repaired and maintained to ensure a “pothole-free” Diwali.

    To sum it up, leaders from the BJP and BJP Delhi shared an edited image, falsely linking it to the rainfall in Delhi on December 27 to target the Aam Aadmi Party. 

    The post BJP Delhi, party leaders share doctored image to show potholes on roads appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Threats, conspiracy claims, closure orders: How Delhi BJP neta Ravinder Negi tyrannizes Muslim vendors

    Since the Narendra Modi-led NDA government assumed power, India has witnessed a noticeable rise in Hindutva-driven forces. Hindutva as an ideology advocates for India to be defined primarily as a Hindu nation. This has coincided with an increase in hate crimes and hostility toward the country’s minority Muslim community. Reports frequently emerge of Hindu organisations targeting Muslims, economically boycotting them, and engaging in acts of harassment. The ruling BJP has been often criticized for fostering an environment that enables an anti-Muslim sentiment to proliferate.

    In recent days, a series of videos featuring Ravinder Singh Negi, a BJP corporator from Vinod Nagar, Delhi, have drawn significant attention and criticism on social media platforms. These videos depict Negi harassing and threatening Muslim shopkeepers, forcing them to disclose their religious identities publicly. On one hand, Muslim shopkeepers are coerced to display their full names and religious affiliations on shop boards. On the other hand, Hindu shopkeepers are pressured to display saffron flags or other religious markers on their establishments. This identification, according to Negi, would allow customers to recognise the religious identity of shopkeepers. Negi is seen in multiple videos promoting conspiracy theories, such as Muslims allegedly spitting in food, referred to as ‘spit jihad.’ By perpetuating such narratives, Negi contributes to creating distrust, suspicion, and communal rifts between Hindus and Muslims. Such generalisations not only fuel hatred but also promote the economic marginalisation of Muslim shopkeepers.

    Case 1

    In one widely circulated video, Ravinder Singh Negi asks a street vendor his name. Initially, the vendor identifies himself as Guddu, a name common across both Hindu and Muslim communities. However, Negi insists on having the vendor’s full name and religion. The vendor reveals that he is a Muslim and confirms that his Aadhaar card also lists his name as Guddu. Negi then threatens the vendor, stating that he must put up a board with his full name in front of his cart or risk having the cart confiscated. During the exchange, Negi makes unsubstantiated claims, alleging that members of “other communities” spit in food products such as paneer and milk and wash items with contaminated drain water. He also instructs nearby shopkeepers to display saffron flags on their shops to identify them as Hindu-owned establishments. 

    There have been many cases where Hindu organisations and people associated with the BJP have pressured Muslim shopkeepers and vendors to write their names outside their shops and threatened them with dire consequences. There are deep implications behind the pressure put by Hindu organisations on shopkeepers, street vendors, etc. to place name plates on their shops, as it acts as a tool for social and economic exclusion. The ability to identify a shopkeeper’s religion through his name can lead to economic boycotting on the basis of religious affiliation. Its effects can be so dangerous that in many parts of India, names are often associated with caste-based surnames, the policy of displaying names is also capable of promoting caste-based discrimination and the evil practice of untouchability, which can lead to customers making shopping decisions based on the caste of the shopkeeper, which is contrary to the values ​​of the Indian constitution. 

    Case 2

    In another incident that took place in Chander Vihar, Delhi, Negi approached the owner of a shop named ‘Tomar Dairy’ and demanded to know his name and religion. The shopkeeper introduced himself as Altamash Tomar and confirmed that he was a Muslim. Negi then questioned why the shop bore the name ‘Tomar’, a surname often associated with Hindu communities. He pressured the shopkeeper to replace the name with one that would clearly indicate his Muslim identity. Negi went on to threaten that failure to follow this would result in the shop being forcibly shut down.

    Case 3

    In a similar incident in Patparganj, Delhi, Negi targeted a shop called “Rawal Paneer Bhandar.” Upon questioning, the shopkeeper revealed his name as Mohammad Ayaan. Negi then ordered the shopkeeper to remove the existing shop banner and replace it with a name that explicitly identified him as a Muslim. 

    There are numerous such videos in which Negi is forcing Muslim shopkeepers to write their names outside their shops and Hindu shopkeepers are being asked to put religious flags on their shops, so that people can identify that these are Hindu shops and receive more visitors.

    Case 4

    In this video, Negi is seen questioning vegetable vendors, asking them their names and religious affiliations. Hindu vendors are told to display saffron flags on their carts as a marker of their religious identity. Once again, Negi repeats the conspiracy theory about spitting in food items like cheese and milk.

    Case 5

    In another case, Negi checked the name of a juice shop owner through a digital payment app. Upon confirming that the owner was a Muslim, Negi demanded that the shopkeeper displayed a board with his name in front of the shop. Negi argued that this was necessary for “people who observe fasts” to know the identity of the shop owner before purchasing food or drinks.

    Case 6

    Similar to the previous incident, Negi visited a paneer shop, checked the owner’s name through a payment app, and confirmed that the shopkeeper was a Muslim. He then ordered the shopkeeper to put up a sign explicitly identifying himself as a Muslim so that Hindu customers could identify him as one.

    Case 7

    In another incident, Negi approached Rizwan, the Muslim owner of a shop named ‘New Haryana Paneer Bhandar’. He demanded that Rizwan put up a board displaying his name to ensure customers were aware of his religious identity. 

    Negi’s harassment of Muslim shopkeepers continued during Hindu religious festivals and periods, like the month of Sawan, Chhatth Puja and Navratri. He also has videos featuring him doing so on his social media. 

    Case 8

    A day before Chhath Puja, Negi visited a Muslim-run meat shop and demanded that it remain closed due to the festival happening the next day, citing the religious sensitivities of Hindus passing in processions through the area.

    Case 9

    During the Kanwar Yatra, Negi approached another Muslim meat shop owner and ordered that the shop remained closed the following day as Hindu devotees would be performing rituals.

    Case 10

    During Navratri, Negi pressured fish and meat shopkeepers to shut their shops. In a video, he is heard threatening the vendors, saying, “I have to stay here for five years. If you obey me, you will be able to work peacefully.”

    In July 2024, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered all hotels located along the Kanwar Yatra route to display boards with the owners’ names. Likewise, BJP-ruled Ujjain Municipal Corporation and officials in Uttarakhand issued orders requiring shop owners to display nameplates in Ujjain. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami defended this, citing instances of shop owners using fake names.

    However, the Supreme Court intervened taking a strong stance against such measures. The court ruled that while shop owners can be instructed to provide information about the type of food they sold, they could not be compelled to disclose their names or religious identities.

    Many street vendors and shopkeepers across India are already marginalised, migrating from rural areas to urban centers in search of livelihood. Forcing them to disclose their religious or caste identities exposes them to the risk of economic boycott and social discrimination, which could have severe consequences on their livelihoods and the overall social fabric of a local community. 

    The post Threats, conspiracy claims, closure orders: How Delhi BJP neta Ravinder Negi tyrannizes Muslim vendors appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Man who put up pro-Pakistan posters in Delhi flat is not a Muslim; claim by Sudarshan News false

    A video circulating on social media shows a person entering a room the walls of which are adorned with pro-Pakistan slogans and radical posters. Inside, the video shows a young man arguing with the person recording. The person behind the camera is heard stating, “Tell everyone in your community that every Indian child is stronger than a hundred of your kind.” This video is being shared with the claim that the person responsible for the posters with pro-Pakistan slogans was from the Muslim community.

    BJP supporter  Jitendra Pratap Singh shared the video, identifying the culprit as a Muslim. (Archived link)

    Right-wing propaganda outlet Sudarshan News also shared the video, labelling the culprit as a ‘jihadi’ and claiming he belonged to the Muslim community. (Archived link)

    Similarly, other users also shared the video with the same claim. (Archived link)

    Fact Check

    Upon investigating, Alt News found a post by journalist Sachin Gupta, who cited information from the police and clarified that the accused was not a Muslim. 

    We then performed a keyword search, which led us to an article published by ABP News on August 5, 2023. According to this report, the police identified the accused as Yashwant Singh. He was detained for writing ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans on the wall of his flat. In other words, the accused is a Hindu, and not from the Muslim community.

    Additionally, an Amar Ujala report quoted District Police Commissioner Guriqbal Singh, who confirmed that the accused was not Muslim.

    To sum it up, multiple users shared a viral video of an apartment with ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ posters, claiming the accused was from the Muslim community. However, the police clarified that he was a Hindu. 

    The post Man who put up pro-Pakistan posters in Delhi flat is not a Muslim; claim by Sudarshan News false appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Muslims, Bengali-speaking migrant workers branded as ‘Bangladeshi’; ‘revenge attacks’ in Delhi, UP, Odisha

    Bangladesh was plunged into an unprecedented crisis on August 5 with the ouster of erstwhile Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina following months of violent student protest. Looting and attacks were reported on leaders associated with the Awami League, the party of Hasina, as well as on their homes, shops, and businesses. Additionally, there have been numerous reports of attacks on the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh. At the same time, various old and unrelated photos and videos have gone viral on social media in India as attacks on Hindus in the neighboring country. These have been debunked by Alt News. Several Right-wing social media users have been using these false claims to target the minority Muslim community in India.

    Politicians have also played an active role in exacerbating the situation. For example, BJP MLA Nitesh Rane posted a tweet on August 5, asking if Hindus were being attacked in Bangladesh, why should Indians spare a single Bangladeshi in their country. He added that they would hunt down and kill every Bangladeshi living in India. Rane deleted the tweet after it had sparked a controversy. However, this is not the first time that he has made such an inflammatory statement. In January of this year, during the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha procession in Mira Road, Mumbai, when communal tensions broke out, Nitesh Rane made a similar incendiary statement, threatening to hunt down individuals.

    The impact of inflammatory social media posts and fake news has been significant, leading to targeted attacks on the minority Muslim community in India. Criminals, motivated by a desire to avenge the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, have been attacking people living in slums in various parts of the country, branding them as Bangladeshis. Several Hindu organisations have been directly involved in these attacks, and the accused are closely associated with the ruling BJP. In many places, Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal and other residents of slums have been harassed and attacked under the suspicion of being Bangladeshis.

    Shastri Park, New Delhi

    On August 8, a group of Hindu extremists attacked garbage collectors in the darkness of night, accusing them of being Bangladeshis, and beat them up with sticks and rods. In a video that went viral, the attackers could be heard saying that these snakes were thriving here while their Hindu sisters and daughters were being raped in Bangladesh. Cow-vigilante and Hindu Raksha Dal member Daksh Chaudhary could be clearly identified in this video. He posted this video on his social media account with the caption, “We will not allow them to stay in this country anymore; if the government cannot remove them, we will.”

    After attacking people living in slums branding them as Bangladeshis, Chaudhary released another video stating that he had no regrets over his actions. He made an open call, stating that they had started the process and that the youth and various organizations of India knew what needed to be done. He declared that no Bangladeshi Rohingya Muslims would remain in this country and though the government may be powerless, they were not.

    Taking cognisance of the video of the attack on garbage collectors by Daksh Chaudhary and his associates, Delhi Police registered a case in the matter. However, no arrests had been made so far. It is worth noting that Chaudhary has several cases registered against him in different police stations. In February year, he entered a mosque in Sahibabad wearing shoes and pushed the Muslims present there, warning them against praying there. He also threatened to kill them if they tried to go to the mosque’s roof. He was later arrested by the police for hurting religious sentiments and disturbing the peace. During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chaudhary and his associates had attacked Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar and abused voters in Ayodhya (Faizabad) when the BJP lost the election there.

    Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

    On August 7, Pinky Chaudhary, the president of the Hindu Raksha Dal, released a video threatening that if Hindus were being persecuted in Bangladesh, Bangladeshis would be treated the same way in India. They would be killed and driven out. In another video, Pinky Chaudhary gave a 24-hour ultimatum. He stated that the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh had to stop and that areas in which Bangladeshis were living in India were on the radar of the Hindu Raksha Dal.

    On August 9, Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters attacked people living in shanties, branded them as Bangladeshis, and vandalised and set fire to the slums. Several Right-wing users shared the video of this incident in solidarity with the attackers, claiming that the people living there were Bangladeshis. Ashok Srivastava, editor of India’s state-run news channel Doordarshan, also defended Pinky Chaudhary on Twitter, stating that Hindus in India were distressed and angry, and it was possible that Pinky Chaudhary was unable to control his emotions.

    After the video had gone viral, Ghaziabad Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters and subsequently arrested him. In a statement to the media, police clarified that based on the facts that emerged during the investigation, the people who were beaten up for being Bangladeshis were actually Indian citizens from Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh.

    Eyewitnesses to the incident reported that people were asked about their religion before being attacked. A child present at the scene said that Pinky Chaudhary and his supporters asked whether they were Muslim or Hindu. As soon as someone identified as Muslim, they started beating them up.

    On August 10, Pinky Chaudhary released another video claiming that they had done what they had claimed and called on all Hindus to kill Bangladeshis and drive them out of India.

    Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

    Satyam Pandit, associated with the Hindu Veer Sena, issued a warning to Rohingyas and Bangladeshis to leave the country within 24 to 72 hours. He threatened that if they did not comply, every worker of the Hindu Veer Sena would cut their beards, pull out their hair, and bury them in Bangladesh.

    The Uttar Pradesh Police took cognisance of the matter and registered an FIR against Satyam Pandit, arresting him on August 12.

    Odisha

    According to a report published on The Times of India’s website, several videos had surfaced on social media showing attacks on Bengali-speaking workers from West Bengal in the districts of Jajpur, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, and Sambalpur of Odisha, in which they were branded as Bangladeshis. Local people demanded proof of their Indian citizenship. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee contacted her Odisha counterpart Mohan Charan Manjhi, urging him to intervene following reports of the attacks on Bengali-speaking workers.

    According to a report by The Indian Express, several workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of Odisha’s ruling party BJP, surrounded 34 individuals at a construction site in Sambalpur district on suspicion that they were Bangladeshi nationals and handed them over to the police. After investigation, police officials stated that they were not from Bangladesh, but from the Murshidabad area of West Bengal, after which they were released.

    Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh

    On August 11, a Hindu organisation held a rally against the atrocities committed against Hindus in Bangladesh. In the video of this rally, one can clearly hear calls for taking up arms to protect Hindus. The video also shows intense sloganeering against Muslims, with offensive comments made against Islam.

    After the video went viral, the local Muslim community lodged a complaint with the police, following which the person seen in the video, Devraj, apologised to the Muslim community in a video, stating that the words were not directed at Indian Muslims. However, there is currently no update on the police’s response in this case.

     

    The post Muslims, Bengali-speaking migrant workers branded as ‘Bangladeshi’; ‘revenge attacks’ in Delhi, UP, Odisha appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Delhi Heat Wave Suggests Underestimated Speed and Intensity of Global Warming

    Delhi is reeling from the most extreme heatwave India has ever seen. While the record-breaking maximum recorded temperature of 52.9°C has been called into question by India’s Meteorological Department, it’s entirely possible. The city has been sweltering, with top temperatures ranging from 45.2°C to 49.1°C, at the limit of human endurance. This event follows hot on the heels of extreme heatwaves…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Photo from Ethiopia peddled as AAP supporters on Delhi street protesting against Kejriwal’s arrest

    An image depicting a huge crowd of people in yellow on a street is being widely shared on social media with users claiming that the image shows Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters in the streets of Delhi protesting against the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal.

    X (formerly Twitter) user Sarita INC (@SaritaaInc) posted the above-mentioned viral image on March 31 with a caption in Hindi that can be translated as: “The entire roads of Delhi have become Kejriwal-filled. #IndiaWithKejriwal”. The tweet has received over 4.5 Lakh views and has been retweeted over 1,700 times. (Archive)

    Raju Karpada (@RajubhaiKarpad1), who according to his X is bio the farmers’ wing president for AAP Gujarat, also shared the same image on March 31 with the following caption in Gujarati: “Lakhs of workers flocked in support of @ArvindKejriwal ji in Delhi today..!”. (Archive)

    Several other users also shared the same image with the same claim that the image shows supporters of AAP on the streets of Delhi.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    We ran a reverse image search on the viral image and came across a website called MDG Achievement Fund.  It belongs to a now-defunct organisation named The Millennium Development Goals Achievement Fund. The page on the website which carried the viral image is titled: “Haile Gebreselassie kicks off the Great Ethiopian Run under the slogan ‘We Can End Poverty by 2015′”.

    Below is a comparison between the viral image and the above image.

    Taking a cue from the above, we ran a keyword search that led us to a news report by CNN from 2017 titled “Ethiopia is the hot new place in Africa – here’s why”. The article carried the now-viral image with the following caption, “The annual Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa is popular among tourists.”

    Addis Ababa is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia and The Great Ethiopian Run is an annual 10-kilometre road running event that takes place around late November in the city. Hence, the image shows runners from the event in the streets of Addis Ababa.

    Further, we found that the image in question was shared by the official X handle of Ethiopia’s ministry of foreign affairs on January 23, 2022, along with several other images from the same location of the running event. The caption said, “#GreatEthiopianRun The biggest running event in #Africa
    Take part in it next time and have fun!”

    Hence, from the above findings, it is clear that the viral image is neither recent nor from India. Therefore, the claim that the image is from Delhi of AAP supporters is false. The image is old and from Ethiopia.

    The post Photo from Ethiopia peddled as AAP supporters on Delhi street protesting against Kejriwal’s arrest appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Viral Holi video inside Delhi metro is not a deep fake, DMRC’s claim false

    A viral video featuring two women inside a metro rail coach applying gulaal (Holi colours) on each other while performing an act to a Bollywood song has sparked a controversy on social media. Several users called for legal action against the women in the video. Responding to the matter, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) told the media that the authenticity of the video was “doubtful” and it might have been created using deep fake technology. Some users also pointed out the same on social media.

    Several mainstream news outlets such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Indian Express, WION, NDTV, Aaj Tak, and Jagran carried reports quoting the DMRC.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Some users also claimed that the incident happened in Kolkata metro. A few instances can be found below:

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    Claim 1: The incident happened in Kolkata metro

    On running a relevant keyword search related to the viral video, we found several news reports on the incident and all of them mentioned that the incident had taken place in Delhi Metro. Further, the response to the viral video came from the official Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) which runs Metro Rail services in the NCR.

    We could also spot the official logo of DMRC in the background of the metro which confirms that the video was shot in a Delhi metro and not in Kolkata.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Claim 2: It is a deep-fake generated video

    After breaking down the video into several key frames and running a reverse image search, we came across a tweet by a user called @ThePerilousGirl who posted the viral video and mentioned in the caption that the video was not fake and shared the link to the original video posted on Instagram by a user called @preeti.morya.714.

    We noticed that the account belonged to one of the two women in the viral video — the one on the left in a white saree. Preeti Morya posted the same viral video on her Instagram page on March 21 with the caption: “Happy Holi”.

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    A post shared by Preeti Morya (@preeti.morya.714)

    We found another video of hers seemingly from the same day, posted on March 22, where she could be seen sitting in a public place and playing with gulaal. The Hindi film song that has been added to the viral metro video has been used in this video as well.

    Her Instagram timeline contains many such videos where she can be seen acting out skits or dancing in public places. We also found more such videos of hers in the Delhi metro.

    The now-viral video posted by Preeti Morya on Instagram had another handle tagged in it, that of @kmvineeta269. This handle belonged to Km Vineeta, the other woman in the viral video. We noticed that @kmvineeta269’s profile photo was an image of the two women in the viral video, which had the words “My best friend Preeti” embedded in it.

    On Km Vineeta’s profile, we found many other reels wherein she and Preeti Morya could be seen together.

    The above findings indicate that the viral video is real.

    Further, we came across another version of the viral video taken from a different angle seemingly recorded by one of the passengers in the metro.

    We found another tweet in which a user shared an image of the two women in the same attire as in the viral video, sitting on the floor of the train.

    The above findings make it clear that the viral video in the Delhi metro is not deep fake but a real video created by two Instagram video creators Preeti Mourya and Km Vineeta.

    Hence, the suggestion that the viral video is a deep fake is false. The video is real featuring two video creators and has been shot inside Delhi metro.

    The post Viral Holi video inside Delhi metro is not a deep fake, DMRC’s claim false appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • G20 Aesthetics: Modi’s Brutal Delhi Facelift

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi really wanted to make an impression for his guests and dignitaries, and coarse realities would simply not do.  The occasion of the G20 summit presented him with a chance to give the city an aggressive touch-up, touching up a good number of its residents along the way, not to mention the city’s animal life as well.  As for those remaining nasties, these could be dressed up, covered, and ignored.  Elements of the Potemkin Village formulae – give the impression the peasants are well-fed, for instance – could be used when needed.

    One Delhi resident, Saroaj Devi, informed The Guardian about the sharp treatment meted out to him and those living in poverty blighted areas.  “They have covered our area so that poor people like us, and poverty in the country, is not witnessed by the people arriving from abroad.”

    These coverings, which could really be said to be barriers, are intended as temporary structures, shielding the G20 delegates from the unsightly as they head to their various abodes, a supreme example of detachment from social realities.

    This attempt at rendering Delhi’s savoury reality anodyne and safe has also extended to policies of animal removal. Delhi police have been reported as seeking out the aid of civic agencies to deal with the presence of monkeys and stray dogs in the vicinity of Rajghat.

    The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has not expressly linked the removal of the canines to summitry aesthetics, stating that this is being done “only on an urgent need basis”.  The premise is fanciful, given the MCD’s express order made last month to remove stray dogs “from the vicinity of prominent locations in view of the G-20 summit”.  It was only withdrawn after provoking much opposition.

    This unpleasant picture was not something the opposition was going to let pass.  The Indian government, concluded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, “is hiding our poor people and animals.  There is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests.”

    Whatever Gandhi’s stance, the slum dwelling Devi is wise enough to realise that poverty is a damn nuisance to all, except when it comes to electioneering opportunities.  In such instances, the invisible are brought to life as votes, tangible opportunities.  “When it is election time, every politician comes to see us.  They eat with us and make promises.  But today, they are ashamed of our presence.”

    There should certainly be some degree of shame, but hardly for the toiling slum dwellers who shoulder the world’s most populous country.  Judging from the figures, the authorities, including the ruling regime, should turn crimson and scurry for cover in burning shame. In Delhi itself, there are 675 clusters populated by 1.55 million people.  But do not fear, suggests the confident Union Minister for State Housing and Urban Affairs, Kaushal Kishore.  Progress is being made.  The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), he recently revealed, had “rehabilitated” 8,379 people in 2022-23.  Not to be outdone, the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) had also its own set of figures: 1,297 people, according to their books, had been rehabilitated in five years.

    The meaning of rehabilitation in this context is much like pacification.  It is a benign expression enclosed in a fist or, in the Indian context, hidden in a bulldozer.  It entails control, management, and dispossession.  Slum clearance and forced evictions are favourites.  The excitement of G20 summitry has clearly led Prime Minister Modi to speed matters up.

    On July 13, 2023, the Concerned Citizens’ collective, with an eclectic membership, released a report documenting testimonies from those affected by the displacement policy ahead of the G20.  The findings were based on a public hearing held on May 22, 2023, a horror story in the name of India’s beautification drive.  Victims of these projects came forth from Delhi itself, along with Mumbai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Indore, and Udaipur.

    The report reveals that 2.5 to 3 million individuals have been displaced, with Delhi alone bearing witness to the razing of 25 slums to the ground. The displacement has not merely taken the form of bulldozed slums; shelters that would have offered temporary relief have also been destroyed.  Options for resettlement for the evictees have not been made available.

    Residents, according to the report, received the shortest of notices to evacuate; in the case of Delhi’s Bela Estate near Yamuna Floodplains, a mere three hours was offered.  Spitefully, the authorities could not leave it at that.  Handpumps, for instance, were sabotaged as an incentive to abandon the settlement.

    Barriers around the site, according to Akbar, an activist living in East Delhi’s Seemapuri, have also been erected in the immediate aftermath of the evictions to seal off any points or entry or exit.  The account he gives is particularly harrowing: a police arrival time of 4-5 am; the barking of orders to vacate within a few hours; the lack of opportunity to seek court intervention.  The demolition, once commenced, is done under the cover of police protection, a sinister practice designed to prevent documentary evidence from leaking out.

    The police have been particularly mealy mouthed about describing the harsh conditions inflicted on residents.  “Global event, Global responsibility – Not a lockdown,” read a full-page advertisement issued by Delhi police welcoming G20 guests.  But the requirement for businesses, schools, offices, workplaces, markets, restaurants and non-food shops to effectively cease operations for three days, aided by onerous traffic restrictions, has crippled daily wage earners of the hand-to-mouth variety.

    As it happens, the G20 Delhi summit was, as so many of these occasions are, much ado about nothing.  The absence of China and Russia turned the occasion into a G18 gathering, removing a good deal of flavour that would otherwise have been present.  At the very least it provided Modi an excellent excuse to rough up the slum dwellers, using beautification as a strategy to criminalise the poor.

  • India: Modi govt’s criminal neglect of railway safety

    By all indications, Balasore will be remembered as one of India’s worst rail disasters in years with the scale of trauma and devastation still unfolding, writes CPIML (Liberation).

    This post was originally published on Green Left.

  • Delhi LG removes AAP govt nominees from discom boards

    The ruling Aam Aadmi Party termed the LG’s orders removing Shah and Gupta from the boards of discoms ‘illegal and unconstitutional’

  • Kejriwal asks Delhi LG to pay attention to improving city’s law and order

    Kejriwal was referring to the hit-and-run case in which a 20-year-old woman was dragged to death while trapped under a car in Delhi

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Home Secretary to chair meeting on Delhi Airport rush

    Mmeeting is being held considering the complaints on social media by irate passengers about missed flights and serpentine pre-boarding lines

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi civic polls results: AAP ahead of BJP in initial trends

    For the counting, the Commission has set up 42 counting centres across the city

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Polling underway for civic polls in Delhi amid tight security

    The AAP and the BJP have exuded confidence that they will emerge victorious in the polls while the Congress is seeking to regain lost turf

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • MCD polls: CM Kejriwal urges to vote for making Delhi clean, beautiful city

    Polling started at 8 am and will continue till 5:30 pm. The votes will be counted on December 7

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Primary schools shut as Delhi smog spikes

    Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai ordered that 50 per cent employees of the Delhi government should work from home

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi’s air quality slips into ‘severe’ category on Tuesday morning

    According to Central Pollution Control Board data shared on the SAMEER app, the AQI in Delhi on Tuesday morning stood at 426

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi’s air quality nears ‘severe’ zone; GRAP stage three likely to kick in

    The overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Delhi stood at 398 at 11 am, worsening from 357 at 4 pm on Friday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi’s air quality ‘very poor’ on morning after Diwali

    The situation was relatively better than previous years due to favourable meteorological conditions

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi reports 4th Monkeypox case, India tally goes up to 9

    Earlier on Tuesday, another 35-year-old Nigerian man living in Delhi, with no recent travel history, tested positive for monkeypox

  • Woman gang-raped inside New Delhi station, 4 railway employees arrested

    All the four accused work in the electrical department, the Railways said

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Heavy rain, thunderstorm hit Delhi, flight operations affected

    Strong winds and heavy rain uprooted trees in parts of Delhi which resulted in roads getting blocked

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • CM Kejriwal visits Mundka blaze site, orders magisterial enquiry

    Kehriwal announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakhs for the family of the deceased while the injured will be given Rs 50,000 as ex-gratia

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi’s R-value 2.1 this week, every COVID infected person infecting two others

    The preliminary analysis by computational modelling was done by IIT-Madras

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • As COVID cases surge, Delhi makes masks mandatory; Rs 500 penalty for violation

    Sources said authorities have been asked to keep a close watch on social gatherings and ramp up testing in the national capital

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Fire breaks out at Delhi’s Uphaar Cinema, where 1997 blaze claimed 59 lives

    On June 13, 1997, at least 59 people died of asphyxia and over 100 were injured in the stampede after fire broke out in Uphaar cinema,

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Under ‘Rozgaar budget’ Delhi govt aims to generate 20 lakh more jobs in next 5 years

    Manish Sisodia said that more than 1.78 lakh youngsters got employment in the last seven years in Delhi

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Delhi most polluted capital in the world in 2021: Report

    In 2021, none of the cities in India met the prescribed World Health Organization air quality standards, report shows

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.