CLAIM
An image of a man clad in a burkha is being shared with the claim that Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar are casting bogus votes, while posing as women.
A Twitter user, चौकीदार Aakash, posted images of a burkha-clad man with the caption:
“After triple talaq bill, Muslim women were supposed to be voting for the BJP... Muslim males in large numbers in burkha seen in Muzaffarnagar booths... ‘faking vote’ as faces of women in burkhas are ‘not being checked’.”
It also cited the remarks made by Union Minister and Muzaffarnagar BJP candidate Dr Sanjiv Balyan, who had said earlier in the day: “Faces of women in burkhas are not being checked and I allege that fake voting is being done. If not looked into, I will demand a re-poll.”
The tweet has since been deleted.
The same claim was also made by many other users on Twitter and Facebook:
THE TRUTH
A reverse image search of the image used to make the claim revealed that it is from 2015.
Back then, the same image was used in various reports claiming an RSS worker had attempted to throw beef into a temple, while clad in a burkha, in an attempt to incite communal tension.
Thus, the image of the burkha-clad man in circulation is being used out of context and the claim that Muslim men are casting bogus votes has no basis.
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