A June 2017 news clip from the Times Now broadcast has once again surfaced on social media sites where one can see the Editor-in-Chief and anchor Rahul Shivshankar saying that young Hindu girls are being radicalized and converted in various coaching and tuition centres in Kerala.
https://www.facebook.com/dhruv.jain.33/videos/2764957563549717/
“In this hub of ISIS activity, young Hindus are being radicalized, they might be saying that there is nothing untoward happening there but we can confirm that young Hindus are being radicalized in coaching centers and tuition classes by committed agents of the caliphate. Mysterious rate cards like the one on your screen are being distributed. It is these rate cards, ladies and gentlemen, are being held up as incentives. Look at what this rate card says, it puts up a price on religion, on your faith, if you look closely at the rate card, you’ll see ladies and gentlemen, you’ll see interesting details, “said Rahul Shivshankar in the particular news clip.
Mr Rahul Shivshankar can also be seen explaining how money is been put on one’s religion or faith. The video shows a pamphlet where a range of selling price from 7 lakhs to 1 lakhs is being assigned for girls of different religions, sub-castes and sects. In utter disgust, Rahul Shivshankar further added, “I can’t even begin to tell you ladies and gentlemen the kind of insidious fine print that is on this rate card, to convert Hindus, caste Brahmins, you have to pay five lakhs, you get paid five lakhs, ladies and gentlemen. A Hindu Brahmin girl – five lakhs, seven lakh rupees for a Sikh Punjabi gal, for a Gujarati Brahmin and so on and so forth, Hindu Khastriya gal – four and a half lakhs, Hindu OBC/SC/ST – two lakhs, Buddhist girl – one and a half lakh, a Jain girl 3 lakh rupees, the caliphate has put a price on your faith.”
The video which is of June 2017 is being shared again on Facebook and Twitter with the claim that a Cochin based ISIS caliphate organisation, is converting Hindu girls and are selling them online.
Please share maximum , this have to reach "home ministry".
Cochin based ISIS Caliphate organization,
Converting hindu girls and selling in online.
See the rate cards. pic.twitter.com/Oj9GkmztMp— SaiSrini (@saisrini129) October 31, 2019
Fact Check
This video by Times Now was debunked by alt news on 24th June 2017. But, later Times Now took down the video from their official twitter page that was originally there on their website. Youtube link of the same is still live on The Times of India handle.
Caliphate puts a price on your faith | Conversion rate card accessed #CaliphateConvertsHindus pic.twitter.com/CYjzuSkyST
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 23, 2017
The rate card pamphlet used in the video is circulating online for several years and the earliest version can be traced back to February 5, 2010, from a blog titled ‘Sikh and Islam’.
Even the information given in this video is taken from a blog, the image is also photoshopped. As fact-checked by alt news, firstly, this poster has the phrase, “in the name of allah……most merciful, most benificiary“, while the usual phrase used is “In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful“. Also, the heart shape in the video gives it away.
While Times Now claimed the hub to be located in Kasargod, Kerala. Now, it is being circulated with the claim to be in Cochin. Even the Ahmedabad Mirror covered a similar story back in 2016 using the same fake pamphlet titled “LOVE JIHAD IN VADODARA COMES WITH A PRIZE TAG”.
Conclusion
The pamphlet on which Times Now did a report and the video which is being circulated now is fake.
Also read: Fact Check: PM Modi Didn’t Send Any Congratulatory Letter To CJI Ranjan Gogoi After Ayodhya Verdict
