A photo of a blueprint of a hospital is falsely going viral on social media with the claim that it shows the ‘Babri Hospital’ that the Sunni Waqf Board is planning to build on the five-acre plot given to it to build a mosque in lieu of the land that the Babri Masjid stood on and that Dr Kafeel Khan will head this. However, this photo is actually the blueprint of a hospital in the USA.
CLAIM
The above photo, claiming to show the ‘Babri Hospital’, is being circulated on social media with many different messages all saying that the Sunni Waqf Board has decided to build a hospital on the land allotted to it for the construction of a mosque in lieu of the Babri Masjid.
If one looks at the photo closely, the names of two departments can also be seen on the left side of the building – ‘Dept of Cancer’ and ‘Dept of Corona’.
Many of the messages on social media welcomed this ‘decision’ and the Waqf Board for taking this call at a time when hospitals are so important for India.
We also found that it was being shared with the claim that Dr Kafeel Khan would be made the head of this Babri Hospital.
WHAT WE FOUND
On conducting a reverse search on the image, we found that it was a blueprint of the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia, US. We found the photo on the Linkedin page of the hospital.
Further, we also came across a website of an architectural firm called Smith Group, which said that it had built the hospital and had been working with the University of Virginia on many projects. We found the same photo on their website as well, as well as a larger photo from a different angle.
However, the UP Central Sunni Waqf Board had reportedly said back in February 2020 that there were talks about building an Indo-Islamic research centre, a hospital and a library on the five-acre plot, apart from the new mosque.
“...we are very keen to come up with a super-speciality hospital where the residents around can avail the best facilities...,” said Athar Hussain, spokesperson of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), the trust formed to overlook the construction of the mosque on the land.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Hussain also added that they were considering a cultural centre on the land as well that would highlight the contributions of Indo-Islamic culture.
Further, the Sunni Waqf Board has also issued a denial, calling the posts on social media about the Babri Hospital and Dr Kafeel Khan fake.
"Today, a fake news is being circulated on different social media platforms that "UP Sunni Central Waqf Board has taken decision to build a Babri Hospital and Kafeel Khan will be director of the Hospital", this news is mischievous and malafide..,” a press release signed by SM Shoeb, the chief executive officer of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, said.
We also came across a news report by The Times of India which said that the trust had lodged a complaint with the Lucknow Police Commissioner over the posts going viral on social media.
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