Image Credit: Twitter/Salman Khurshid
Uttar Pradesh
Congress Leader Salman Khurshid Shared Old Images From 2016 As Recent Demolition Drive In Uttar Pradesh
|We found in our investigation that these images were taken in 2016 during a demolition drive conducted in Unnao during the Samajwadi Party government.
A collection of four images has gone viral across social media which shows several buildings in a scene of disarray. Users alleged that the buildings were the aftermath of the demolition drive in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao.
The images have been shared in the context of the demolition drive that took place in Delhi's Jahangirpuri after communal clashes took place in April. The Logical Indian Fact Check Team has checked several claims about demolition drives which have been shared with misleading context, as can be seen here and here.
Claim:
Four images show buildings which are in dilapidated condition likely due to bulldozers have gone viral on social media. The images show bulldozers and police personnel amidst the wreckage.
The images have gone viral with the claim that the wrecked buildings are from Unnao and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. The claim is being circulated by several users across social media.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister, Salman Khurshid, also tweeted the images with the same claim. He wrote, "Not Ukraine, these are photos of Unnao and Farrukhabad of Buldozerland."
Another user wrote, "Not Ukraine, these are photos of Unnao and Farrukhabad of Buldozerland. Muslim houses destroyed by #RSS and #BJP."
Some Twitter users shared the same images lauding the actions of the Uttar Pradesh government over these alleged claims of demolition.
It is being widely shared on Facebook and Twitter with a similar claim.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The viral images are from 2016.
We observed the comments beneath the Twitter post by Salman Khurshid and noted a Tweet by a user, BefittingFacts. The user pointed out that the images were actually from reports by AmarUjala which dated back to 2016.
We then conducted a keyword search and came across the following reports by AmarUjala. The report contained the following images.
The reports, published on 27 May 2016 and 28 May 2016, detailed how a demolition drive took place in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. The report states that these photos were from a demolition drive in Loha Mandi (Translation: Iron Market) and the Utensils Market, located between Ataullah Nala and Chhota Chauraha in Unnao.
As per the report, the district administration demolished around 85 buildings in the area that it had deemed illegal. During the demolition, officers from the Municipality and Tehsil under the leadership of City Magistrate Shankar Mukherjee and police personnel were present. To note, the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party government was in power in 2016, before being defeated by the BJP in the 2017 Assembly elections.
Comparing the images, we noticed several similarities between the viral images and the images in the AmarUjala report.
We conducted a keyword search across Facebook, we came across this post published on May 30, 2022, by user Shubham Nigam. He had republished images from a post that was initially posted on May 26, 2016.
These images were the same ones as being circulated across social media. The caption of the post reads: "This scene of devastation. The Unnao's appearance has been altered. This small square in Unnao has been destroyed (Coverage by Shubham Nigam of Hindustan Press)"
However, The Logical Indian Fact Check Team was not able to independently verify where the fourth image was taken. We came across a report by India Today published on June 8, 2022, which contained the response by Salman Khurshid. According to the report, Khurshid and a local of Farrukhabad stated that the fourth photo was from Kadrigate, Farrukhabad. He also mentioned that he was not aware that the first three images were years old.
We conducted a keyword search regarding any demolitions that took place in Uttar Pradesh recently. This ABP Live report was published on 5th June 2022, which documented the demolition of "illegal encroachments" between Ataullah Nala and the Chhota Chauraha area in Farrukhabad.
Conclusion:
The images have gone viral with the claim that the wrecked buildings are from Unnao and Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.
However, through our investigation, we were able to ascertain that these images were pictured during incidents that took place in 2016. While these images depict the demolitions of buildings in Unnao, the incidents took place under the Samajwadi Party government in 2016.
Media reports and visual evidence from 2016 suggest that these photos were from a demolition drive in Loha Mandi and the Utensils Market, located between Ataullah Nala and Chhota Chauraha in Unnao. The images of the incident are not connected with the recent demolition drive that took place in Farrukhabad.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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