A screenshot of a tweet from a handle impersonating former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is viral on social media. The tweet, dated 26 March 2020, suggests about a possible 'education jihad' going on in the country for years.
BOOM found that the Twitter handle @RanjanGogoii does not exist anymore. We also reached out to justice Gogoi who told us that he is not present on the platform
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The tweet, as the screenshot suggests, is from last year. The incident referred to in the tweet too is from March 2020 when Jamia Millia Islamia university had suspended assistant professor Abrar Ahmad over a controversial tweet of his on March 25.
In his tweet, Ahmad had said that he would pass all his students except 15 non-Muslim students who had supported Citizenship Amendment Act . He later deleted his tweet. Ahmad later tweeted clarifying the issue and stated that no such examination had taken place and no student had been failed. He said that his tweet was a 'parody' to explain an issue.
The viral screenshot shows a tweet in Hindi which states 'Jamia's professor "Abrar Ahmad" tweeted that he has failed 15 non-Musim students of his class since they were supporting CAA. In universities and colleges across the country, this different sort of #Jihad is being waged for years now. Calling it "Education Jihad" won't be an exaggeration'. It has been credited to the handle @RajanGogoii
(Hindi: जामिया के प्रोफ़ेसर "अबरार अहमद" ने ट्विटर पर लिखा कि मैंने क्लास के 15 नॉन-मुस्लिम छात्रों को फेल कर दिया है क्यूंकि वो CAA का सपोर्ट कर रहे थे | देश भर की यूनिवर्सिटी-कालेज में ये एक अलग टाइप का #जिहाद कई साल से चल रहा है | इसे "शिक्षा जिहाद" कहना हास्यास्पद नहीं होगा |)
View the post here and its archived version can be accessed here.
Fact Check
BOOM searched Twitter with the handle name @RanjanGogoii and found that the handle doesn't exist anymore. Our search results led us to several tweets where the handle's name has been mentioned but it doesn't return to a page, which means the account no longer exists. BOOM however was unable to establish if the handle has been changed.
Additionally, we reached out to former chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi who clarified that he is not on Twitter and the screenshot of a tweet circulating in his name is fake. We, however, did find some parody accounts in his name.
Who Is Abrar Ahmad?
Abrar Ahmad, an assistant professor at Jamia Millia Islamia university made it to the headlines last year after his controversial tweet in the backdrop of the then ongoing anti-CAA protests in Delhi and several parts of the country.
In his tweet dated March 25, 2020, Ahmad had said 'All my students are passed except 15 non-Muslims, who have to reappear #CAA. If you have #CAAprotests, I have 55 students in my favour #CAAsupport. Majority will teach you lesson if protests not ends #riot (sic)'.
After backlash over his tweet, Ahmad deleted it and tweeted again saying 'Regarding a post I wrote about an examination discrimination is parody to explain #CAA and #CAAprotests (and) how government is discriminating a community. There has been no such examination and no such results… It is just to explain an issue'.
While Ahmad's Twitter handle is not functional anymore, screenshots of his tweets are still present in public domain.
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Ahmad was suspended from the university and the university had tweeted about the same on March 26, 2020.
Additional reporting: Ritika Jain