A newspaper clipping claiming former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray in a recent meeting with Muslim leaders apologised for participating in the 1992 riots in Mumbai, is fake.
BOOM found that Rashtriya Ujala, the newspaper to whom the clipping has been attributed to, has denied publishing such a report and said that they do not have a reporter by that name on their team. The official handle of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) faction has also called out the clipping and statement as fake.
Maharashtra voted for its 288 assembly seats on November 20, 2024 and results are to be announced on November 23.
What is the viral newspaper clipping
The viral clipping has a photo of Thackeray with a headline in Hindi that translates to, "It was a mistake to participate in the 1992 riots, please forgive me - Uddhav Thackeray". It then goes on to detail that in a recent meeting with Muslim leaders namely like Sajjad Nomani, Mufti Mohammad Ismail, Asif Sheikh, Thackeray apologised for the 1992 riots.
The clipping has been attributed to 'Rashtriya Ujala' as the publisher and one Pranav Dogra as the reporter.
Right wing users peddle fake newspaper clipping targeting Thackeray
The clipping was shared by several verified handles on X including by Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and right wing accounts. Rishi Bagree, who has been fact checked by BOOM several times for sharing communally charged disinformation, posted the clipping on X, with a caption in Hindi that translates to, "Till yesterday, he was boasting that Shiv Sena saved Mumbai from the 1992 riots, but today Uddhav Thackeray is seen apologising to the Muslim community for the same riots."
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found the newspaper clipping is fake with the outlet Rashtriya Ujala issuing multiple statements denying that they published any such piece.
We first checked the website of Rashtriya Ujala, the news outlet as mentioned in the clipping and found a statement by them calling the clipping fake.
In the statement in Hindi, Rashtriya Ujala called the news, "false and malicious" and added that their newspaper "had been wrongly attributed". It further clarified that "they had no connection with this fabricated information".
On Facebook the news outlet, also said that the person mentioned as reporter Pranav Dogra in the story has no connection with their newspaper.
BOOM could not independently ascertain whether Dogra was in anyway associated with the newspaper Rashtriya Ujala.
Speaking to BOOM on call, a member of the Rashtriya Ujala newspaper based in Noida, confirmed that the clipping was not from their newspaper.
The official handle of Shiv Sena, Uddhav Thackery faction also replied to handles sharing the clipping on X, calling it "fake".
