- OpIndia is exposed for falsely portraying a Muslim boy with a taweez as a Hindu, attempting to advance their Islamophobic agenda.
- The Indian news outlet, previously rejected by the International Fact-Checking Network, continues to be criticised for repeated misinformation.
Indian news outlet, OpIndia is exposed yet again for spreading fabricated news.
In an article published on August 30, they state:
“In the viral video, a Hindu boy is seen standing in knee-deep water”. However, it has been revealed that this information was false. The boy in question is actually a Muslim, and the object is a taweez (an amulet).
A taweez is an amulet worn by some Muslims, purported to provide protection or healing. However, many Islamic scholars assert that depending on a taweez for safety may signify a lack of trust in Allah and would be deemed as an act of Shirk. Moreover, they caution that a taweez might contain various elements unknown to the wearer.
It is evident that OpIndia has chosen to distort the events to align with their own Islamophobic agenda. Their narrative seems deliberately crafted to portray Bangladesh as a country that disrespects religious minorities and denies them freedoms. They insidiously attempt to fracture the very fabric of our communities, sowing discord and fostering division.
This distortion has been seized upon by various proponents of Hindutva and Islamophobes, who have propagated the story on platforms such as X.
Unite TV, a Bangladeshi broadcasting channel, recently aired a segment documenting the removal of taweez in Dhaka. It showcased the process of cutting and detaching amulets from several individuals in the region.
On August 14, we reported on how OpIndia initiated a baseless smear campaign against our brother Muzzammil Ayyub Thakur, a prominent and highly respected Kashmir activist. Muzzammil was delivering a lecture in London when he was forced to defend himself against an aggressive Hindutva mob. The article’s egregious comments extended to baseless attacks on Muzzammil’s father, even in the absence of any evidence.
It is worth noting that in 2019, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) rejected OpIndia’s application for certification as a fact-checker. Between January 2018 and June 2020, 45 IFCN-certified fact-checkers identified 25 instances of fake news and 14 misreported stories published by OpIndia. The website is owned by Aadhyaasi Media and Content Services, previously a subsidiary of the parent company of the right-wing magazine Swarajya. The current CEO of OpIndia is Rahul Roushan, with Nupur J Sharma (English) and Chandan Kumar (Hindi) serving as editors.
