On Thursday (September 29), a New Delhi-based ‘independent news site’ courted controversy after falsely attributing the murder of an exorcist, accused of sexually harassing a woman, to Bajrang Dal. The deceased was identified as one Maulana Ataullah Qasmi.
In a tweet, ‘The Jamia Times’ wrote, “Maulana Ataullah Qasmi, a resident of Jharkhand, was burnt by a Bajrang Dal worker, and the body was thrown in the forest.” The archived version of the tweet can be accessed here.
Prominent Muslim leaders then further amplified the disinformation to build a case against the Hindu rights organisation.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been miffed by the ban of Islamist outfit PFI, called for a ban on Bajrang Dal based on the fake news. “Will the Modi government ban this group?” he asked.
Will the Modi government Ban this Group ? https://t.co/fBpp1WAMpx
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) September 29, 2022
Congress MLA from Assam, Abdul Khaleque, dared the Indian Prime Minister to ban Bajrang Dal for supposedly spreading terror. He questioned, “Whether our PM Modiji has (the) guts to ban this organisation which is spreading terror ?”
Whether our PM Modiji has guts to ban this organisation which is spreading terror ? https://t.co/COYcmBmmaB
— Abdul Khaleque (@MPAbdulKhaleque) September 29, 2022
Muslim activist from Bangladesh, where Hindus are regularly persecuted, Zahir Shamsery, also joined the collective effort by Islamists to mainstream the disinformation. “Draw the attention of (the) international community. Jharkhand (India) resident Maulana Ataullah Qasmi Sahib was burnt by the Bajrang Dal RSS and dumped in the forest,” he tweeted.
Draw the attention of international community.
— Zahir shamsery (@shamsery) September 29, 2022
Jharkhand (India) resident Maulana Ataullah Qasmi Sahib was burnt by the Bajrang Dal RSS and dumped in the forest. pic.twitter.com/Xfk6XgyKaa
What is the Truth?
As per a report in Dainik Bhaskar, the deceased man Maulana Ataullah Qasmi (aged between 36-40 years) was a resident of the Palamu district of Jharkhand. He used to work as an exorcist in the Shahdol district of Madhya Pradesh.
Qasmi was missing since September 21 and was last seen riding on the bike of his acquaintance towards Padmania village in Shahdol district. A missing report was thus filed by his family on the following day.
On Monday (September 26), his half-burnt body was recovered by Singhpur police from the same village. The cops swung into action and arrested a man named Shivshankar Yadav in connection with the case.
The 28-year-old confessed to his crime and revealed the motive behind killing Maulana Ataullah Qasmi. Dainik Bhaskar reported that the accused man took a woman to the exorcist in the hopes of curing her of ailments.
Having won the trust of Yadav, Qasmi exploited the opportunity to sexually harass the woman. Angered by his act, the accused killed the exorcist and doused his body with the petrol from his bike.
After setting Qasmi’s body on fire, Yadav disposed of the bike in the Nawalpur Son river. There are no reports which suggest that Shivshankar Yadav, a driver by occupation, was associated with Bajrang Dal.
However, this did not stop Islamists from giving communal colour to the murder of Maulana Ataullah Qasmi, accused of sexually harassing a woman. Following backlash on social media, ‘The Jamia Times’ conceded that it did not have any evidence to back the claim of Yadav’s association with the Bajrang Dal.
“Update: DSP Shahdol Raghvendra Dwivedi has not confirmed that the accused is associated with Bajrang Dal. He said that the deceased used to come to the house of the accused earlier in connection with exorcism.”
However, the disinformation was widely shared by Islamists and the New Delhi-based ‘independent news site’ did not bother to delete the piece of fake news (which is now being weaponised to call for a ban on Bajrang Dal).
