CLAIM
A tweet by one Abhishek claims that Barkat Ali, the man who was allegedly attacked by four unidentified men in Gurugram and supposedly forced to say 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', is a regular on NDTV.
The tweet has now been deleted, but a screenshot of the same was shared by the Facebook page PMO India : Report Card.
The same claim has also been shared by a few on Twitter.
TRUE OR FALSE?
Barkat is certainly not a regular on NDTV, as claimed by the various posts. The picture is from Sunday, 26 May 2019, when he was invited by the channel to feature in its ‘We The People’ debate show, to discuss the incident.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
A cursory search on the channel led to the longer video of the programme's debate, where he can be seen speaking to the anchor at around 49.30 minutes.
In the video, Barkat explains how he was allegedly accosted by some unidentified men on his way back from a mosque on Saturday night, who supposedly threw his skullcap down and pushed him as well.
BJP volunteer Vikas Pandey, who was one among the first to have shared this narrative on Twitter, too clarified that the still was from the NDTV show.
WHAT HAPPENED TO BARKAT?
Speaking to The Quint, Barkat had earlier said that the incident happened when he was returning around 10 pm on Saturday night after offering prayers at Jama Masjid in Gurugram.
“I was returning after offering namaz. A few men came on a bike said that wearing a skull cap is not allowed in the area. When I refused to take off my cap, they abused me and beat me,” he told The Quint.
Barkat said that he tried to escape, but the men held him and tore his kurta as well.
“An FIR was registered. Police have not been able to identify them yet, as it was dark and their faces cannot be recognised in the CCTV footage,” he said.
However, Subhash Boken, the PRO for Gurugram police told The Quint that it’s a matter of road rage and that Barkat did not mention about being forced to chant any slogans while filing the complaint.
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