No, A Hindu Did Not Burn Quran In Shahjahanpur; No Communal Angle In Case Of Burning Of Quran

A claim is going viral across social media, implying that there is a communal angle in a recent incident of the burning of religious texts in Shahjanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The claim is viral following the collapse of the Morbi bridge in Gujarat on October 30.

The collapse of Morbi bridge on October 30 led to the loss of 140 lives. During the rescue efforts, it was reported that some individuals from the Muslim community saved the lives of people struggling to stay afloat after the disaster. The Logical Indian reported on one such youth whose actions reportedly saved over 50 lives.

Claim:

The claim is being circulated with an article from ABP Live, titled, "In Shahjahanpur, religious text was set on fire inside the mosque, people of Muslim community came out on the streets, CCTV footage surfaced". The report detailed how a religious text of the Muslim community was set on fire inside the mosque. After this, people from the Muslim community started protesting on the streets.

A screenshot of this article was circulated with the following claim, "Two days ago in Gujarat, the Morbi bridge collapsed, and only 4 Muslims saved hundreds of lives. And yesterday in Shahjahanpur, UP, saffron terrorists entered the mosque and set the "Quran Sharif" on fire! Why do you hate Muslims so much? Why have you become so blind in hating us that you do not understand right or wrong?"

The claim is shared across Facebook as well.

A video was circulated by some users which showed the interior of a mosque and certain books with burn marks placed in a corner, which appear to be religious texts.

The video is viral with the claim, "Uttar Pradesh: A terrorist has entered the Syed Shah Fakhre Aalam Main Masjid and burnt the Quran Sharif. This is the result of big leaders giving provocative speeches against Muslims. Hope the bulldozer will destroy this terrorist's house very soon."

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be false. The accused belongs to the Muslim community.

We went through the ABP Live report shared in the viral claim. In the report, published on November 3, 2022, we found no mention of the religious identity of the perpetrators. The ABP Live report included a quote from the Shahjahanpur Superintendent, S Anand, which said that pages of a religious book were burnt. The report noted that the police are examining CCTV footage of the incident.

We conducted a keyword search and came across a report by The Print published on November 4, 2022. The report is titled, 'After the incident of burning of scriptures, heavy police force deployed in mosques performed Friday prayers peacefully'.

The Print report noted how a heavy police force had been deployed at mosques in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur town to ensure that Friday prayers are conducted peacefully after the incident of burning of religious texts. In the report, the name of the accused is mentioned as Taj Mohammed.

We also came across a report by AmarUjala published on November 3, 2022. The report titled, 'Shahjahanpur: Accused arrested for burning scripture in Shahjahanpur'.

As per the AmarUjala report, the accused named Taj Mohammed, a resident of Badujai Awwal, Shahjahanpur, was arrested by the police. Upon his arrest, the police noted that the accused seemed mentally disturbed. Reportedly, the accused was talking in absurd tones and not making coherent remarks.

We also came across a report by Dainik Bhaskar, titled, "Arrested for burning religious texts in mosque: Taj Mohammed said - not me, my soul burnt it". In the report published on November 3, 2022, the person who burnt the religious text is Taj Mohammad, a resident of the Badujai locality, 3 km from the mosque. The reportedly absurd comments were included in this report by Dainik Bhaskar, where the accused states, "It is not me but my soul has burnt it."

We checked across Twitter conducting a keyword search with the terms, 'Taj Mohammed.' We came across a tweet by the official account of the Shahjahanpur Police. The tweet read, "The accused Taj Mohammad, a resident of the premises of Badujai police station in the Sadar Bazar district Shahjahanpur, who damaged the religious text in the police station area, was arrested within 24 hours, advance legal action is being taken after interrogating the accused."

We also came across a video statement by Shahjahanpur Police posted on their official Twitter handle.

"On November 2, we were notified that pages of a religious text were burnt Syed Shah Fakhre Alam Mian Mosque located in the premises of Kotwali station in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh." They underline in detail as to how they caught the perpetrator.

"The family members of the accused have stated that his mental condition has been affected. WIth regards to this, his medical examination is being conducted. We have engaged in conversation with the Imam of the mosque. We have arrested and sent them to jail."

In a tweet dated November 4, 2022, the Shahjahanpur Police replied to a query by stating, "In the case, the accused who harmed the religious texts was caught and presented before the Hon'ble Court."

Conclusion:

The Shahjahanpur police have arrested a person named Taj Mohammed in the case of the burning of religious texts. They have stated that the mental condition of the accused is not stable. We have found that there is no communal angle in the case of the burning of religious texts. Thus, the viral claim is misleading.

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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