A letter attributed to Maulana Mehmood Madani, an Islamic scholar and president of the Mahmood faction of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, is being shared widely on social media, where he describes the Aam Aadmi Party as an enemy of Muslims. The letter makes an appeal to Muslim voters to not vote for AAP.
The letter is being shared in the backdrop of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, being held on December 4, 2022.
Sharing the letter on Facebook, a user wrote (translated from Hindi), "Maulana Mehmood Madani has a special appeal to the Muslims of Delhi, this time Kejriwal has to be reminded of his status".
The letter, signed with the data November 30, 2022, talks about how the AAP betrayed Muslims during the Shaheen Bagh protests, CAA protests and Delhi riots, by siding with the BJP.
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"This letter is absolutely false"
BOOM used relevant keywords to look for recent news reports on Madani, but could not find any report corresponding to the viral letter.
We then searched on social media with keywords "maulana madani appeal", in English and Hindi, and found a tweet made by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH), which contained the viral picture of the letter. In the tweet, JUH refuted the veracity of the letter by stating, "No appeal has been issued on behalf of Maulana Mehmood Madani Sahab or Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind".
Madani also posted a similar on his verified Facebook page, calling the letter fake.
BOOM reached out to Madani, and was told by his media in-charge Azimullah that Madani did not sign such a letter. "This letter is absolutely false, Maulana Mahmood Madani or Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has not made any such appeal," he said.