We have reported earlier on the targeted violence in Gujarat against non-Gujaratis following the rape of a 14-month old girl in the state. The Police had confirmed the involvement of Congress leaders in the violence that had ensued and the consequent exodus of migrants from the from Gujarat. The state government was forced to make an appeal to those affected to return and that things had been brought under control. Police have arrested hundreds of people for violence on non-Gujaratis, most of them members of Thakor Sena led by Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor. Several Congress leaders also have been arrested after evidence of their involvement in instituting was surfaced.
While all these developments are taking place, the Chhattisgarh wing of the Youth Congress took to Twitter to share an image that was claimed to be of migrants fleeing Gujarat in recent days and equated the event with the partition of the country in 1947. The image was shared with a caption that appeared to blame the BJP for the riots.
गंगा के लाल ने, अपना फर्ज निभा दिया,
यूपी बिहार के बिछड़े, बच्चों को वापिस घर पंहुचा दिया।
जिन्होंने 1947 का विभाजन नहीं देखा ,उनको 2018 का विभाजन दिखा दिया। pic.twitter.com/2QbHOcEXh0— CG Youth Congress (@IYCChhattisgarh) October 11, 2018
A simple Google image search reveals that the picture is definitely not of the recent riots in Gujarat. It is a Reuters photo that appears in an article by BBC in 2012.
The same image with higher resolution appears on International Business Times in 2011. The image is described as “Hindu devotees travel on a crowded passenger train to take part in the “Guru Purnima” festival in Goverdhan town near the northern Indian city of Mathura”.
While it is becoming increasingly evident that Congress leaders were involved with the targeted violence against non-Gujaratis in the state, the party is resorting to spreading Fake News to boost its electoral prospects. The Congress MLA had even announced an indefinite fast demanding the release of the riot accused arrested by the Police. He was even seen in a video making incendiary remarks against migrants in the state. Under such circumstances, with the role of Congress in the violence all but confirmed, it is embracing desperate measures to target the BJP for a deed allegedly committed by its own party men. Congress President Rahul Gandhi too was caught lying regarding the same matter in the past.
