Madhu Kishwar Tweets Qaumi Ekta Week Video With Communal Spin

An official in the Mumbra police station told The Quint that there is nothing communal about the incident.

CLAIM

Writer Madhu Kishwar, who is followed by over two million Twitter users, on Sunday, 1 December, shared a video stating that soon after Uddhav Thackeray took oath as Maharashtra’s chief minister, the state started witnessing ‘secular activities’.

The claim shared along with the video further states that the video is from Kausa Masjid in Mumbra in Thane district where police officers can be seen distributing tasbeehs (collection of beads) after people offered Friday prayers.

Several social media users shared the video on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim, making it look like tasbeehs were distributed only after Uddhav Thackeray took oath.

WHAT’S THE TRUTH?

An official in the Mumbra police station told The Quint that there is nothing political or communal about the incident. The video is from Friday, 29 November, and the exercise was conducted as part of the Qaumi Ekta Week celebrations.

“This video was taken outside Kausa Masjid, where police officers were giving tasbeehs as part of Qaumi Ekta Week. This is not the first time that it is being celebrated... it’s been happening for years. It is celebrated to promote harmony among communities.”

Mumbra Police official

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Thane City Police had also tweeted images from the Qaumi Ekta Week celebrations from its official handle on 25 November.

"कौमी एकता सप्ताह" निमित्त नारपोली व शीळ डायघर पोलीस ठाणे येथे परिसंवाद कार्यक्रम आयोजित करण्यात येऊन उपस्थितांना मुली व महिला यांची सुरक्षितता, नवीन कायदे, महिलांचे महत्त्व व राष्ट्रीय उभारणीच्या विकासामधील त्यांची भूमिका याबाबत उपयुक्त मार्गदर्शन केले. #कौमीएकतासप्ताह२०१९ pic.twitter.com/TfPXp80nHH

— Thane City Police (@ThaneCityPolice) November 25, 2019

QAUMI EKTA WEEK CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR

We found several releases by Press Information Bureau (PIB) across different years mentioning that the Qaumi Ekta Week (National Integration week) is observed every year from 19 to 25 November, to foster and reinforce the spirit of communal harmony.

While the origin of the video is true, it is being shared with a false communal and political narrative.

This is not the first time that Qaumi Ekta Week has been celebrated and the insinuation that the practice has started right after Thackeray became the chief minister of Maharashtra is misleading.

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