Images Of Unrelated Islamic Structures Viral As Babri Masjid

Images of Islamic structures from different places around the world are viral on social media with false captions calling them photos of the demolished Babri masjid (mosque).

BOOM tracked these images to Karnataka, Afghanistan and Turkey.

The images of mosques are viral in the backdrop of the foundation stone laying ceremony of a proposed Ram temple that was conducted in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on August 5, 2020.

The 16th-century Babri masjid was demolished a mob of kar-sevaks on December 6, 1992. After years of legal battle over the Ram Janmbhoomi-Babri masjid land dispute, the Supreme Court in its November 9, 2019 verdict granted Ram Lalla (infant Ram) full possession of the site.

Also read Ram Mandir Bhoomi Pujan: Legal Battle Timeline That Ended The Dispute

A Facebook post shared the image of a mosque with a caption reading 'Full picture of Babri mosque'.

The text overlaid on the picture reads 'Greetings. This is the complete picture of Babri masjid that few people might have seen. If you like the picture, do write praise be to Allah'.

(Original text: Assalamu Alaikum. Babri Masjid ki full tasveer shayad kam logon ne dekhi hogi. Agar pasand aaye to Masha Allah zaroor likhna.

Check the archives here, here, here, here and here.

A set of pictures of structures shared on Twitter also falsely claims that the structure is Babri masjid.

The tweet in Hindi translates to 'I doubt there was a mosque as lavish as babri in that era. #BabriZindaHai'.

(Hindi: शायद ही उस ज़माने में बाबरी से आलिशान मस्ज़िद रही हो । #BabriZindaHai)

Another tweet shared the picture of an Islamic structure claiming it to be Babri masjid.

Another tweet shared a set of two pictures of which one shows kar sevaks on their way to demolish the mosque in Ayodhya while another shows an Islamic structures. The tweet suggests that the Islamic structure is Babri masjid.

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BOOM also found a news report published on the website of India TV (archive) on January 25, 2016 under the headline 'Facts about Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue' carrying the picture of the same Islamic structure shared on several viral posts with false captions.

The sixth slide in a set of 11 slides carried in the India TV report carries the wrong image.

It is noteworthy that BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had on February 26, 2016 filed a plea in the Supreme Court seeking construction of Ram Temple at the disputed site.

Fact Check

BOOM ran a reverse image search on the pictures separately and found that none of them showed the Babri masjid that was demolished in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Pic 1

BOOM did a reverse image search on this picture on Russian search engine Yandex and found similar pictures published in various websites calling the structure Gulbarga Fort.

We then did a keyword search with 'Gulbarga Fort Mosque' and found the same image published on the website kids.britannica.com with a caption reading 'Jāmiʿ Masjid ("Congregational Mosque"), Gulbarga Fort, Karnataka, India'.

Jamia mosque in Gulbarga, Karnataka, is situated on the Gulbarga Fort premises.

Pic 2

Upon a reverse image search on this picture we found a similar picture that mentions the structure as prayer hall mosque in Ibrahim Rouza, Bijapur, Karnataka.

We compared both the pictures and found them to be one and same.

An Islamic monument, Ibrahim Rouza was built by emperor Ibrahim Adil Shah II and has an interesting history. Read more about the structure here.

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Pic 3

A reverse image search on this picture led us to an stock photography website Alamy.com which had the same image that's viral as Babri masjid.

The caption with the Alamy stock photo reads 'Noh Gunbad mosque, Balkh, Afghanistan'.

We did a keyword search to and found that the image shows the Haji Piyada Mosque (Noh Gumbad) built in second half of ninth century. It is located in Northern Afghanistan.

Pic 4

A reverse image search on the image led us to the shutterstock webiste which carried the same image.

A Chinese caption with the image translates to 'Interior of the Green Mosque (Yesil Camii) in Bursa, Turkey, on March 31th, 2016'.

The Green Mosque was built between 1415 and 1419 in Bursa, Turkey. The mosque comprises mausoleum (tomb) , madrasa, cultivation and Turkish baths.