Fact-Check: Did Malabar Gold Award Scholarships Only to Muslim Girls? No!

Malabar Charitable Trust's video states that the scholarship is given "without consideration to caste or community."

A photograph showing girls donning hijabs and holding up certificates is being shared across social media platforms to claim that the jewellery brand – Malabar Gold and Diamonds – only awards scholarships to girls belonging to the Muslim community.

(Archives of more such claims can be seen here, here, and here.)

Is it true?: The claim is misleading. While the scholarship is awarded only to girls, there is no no evidence to prove that it is given to those from the Muslim community.

How did we find out?: We noticed that the backdrop of the photo carried text that reads 'Malabar Charitable Trust'.

The details of the scholarship are listed on the website of the Malabar Charitable Trust. We found a photo under its 'Events and Album' section and noticed that none of the girls were wearing a hijab here.

• The photo's description mentioned it showed girls receiving educational scholarships under a CSR activity called "Empowering Education and Empowering womanhood."

• It mentioned that the event was held in Andhra Pradesh's Rajahmundry in the presence of the state's Women and Child Development Minister Taneti Vanitha and other politicians.

So, who is the scholarship given to?: The details of the scholarship are listed on the website.

• It mentions that the scheme is "exclusively for girl students" and that it was only granted for higher education after class 10.

• The page also said that the scholarship would be granted on "merit and means basis only" and would be suspended if the awardee failed to be promoted to the next academic year.

• However, this section made no mention of religion as a criteria.

Next, we came across a video of a similar CSR activity on the company's YouTube channel.

• The video mentioned that the beneficiaries included scholars from families across all sections of the society "without consideration to caste or community."

• The description mentioned that the video showed their educational scholarship programme which "brightened the futures of 4000+ girl scholars from deserving backgrounds" in FY 2022–23.

• The video showed visuals from various districts across Karnataka.

(Note: Swipe right to view all screenshots.)

The Quint has reached out to the Malabar Charitable Trust and will update this article with their response as and when it is received.

Conclusion: It is evident that the claim is without any basis and there is no evidence that concludes that the company discriminates on the basis of religion while awarding educational scholarships to girls.

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