An old photo of a man touching an idol of the Hindu deity Ram is circulating on social media with a false claim that it depicts a Muslim artist sculpting the idol for the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
BOOM found that the picture dates back to 2019 and that the man in the photo is a resident of Bangalore. We also spoke to the individual present in the photo who confirmed that he had not created any idol for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
On December 19, the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra announced the involvement of three sculptors—Ganesh Bhatt, Arun Yogiraj, and Satyanarayan Pandey—in crafting Lord Ram's idols. The trust, responsible for overseeing temple construction and management, specified that among these sculptors, the idol portraying the innocence of a five-year-old child would be selected. However, some news outlets reported about the contribution of two Muslim sculptors from West Bengal who have crafted statues intended for placement outside the Ram temple for worship by devotees.
The photo is being shared with a Hindi caption that translates to, "These Sanghis could not find a single sculptor among the 110 crore Hindus... Let's go to create a Hindu nation..."
(Original Text in Hindi: इन संघियों को 110 करोड़ हिंदुओं में से एक मूर्तिकार नहीं मिला... चले हैं हिंदू राष्ट्र बनाने...)
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check
BOOM conducted a reverse image search on the viral photograph and found several news reports from 2019 featuring the same picture.
A report published by The New Indian Express on April 9, 2019, captioned the photo as, "Ahead of Ramanavami festival, which falls on April 14, Saddam Hussein cleans the idols kept at the Ram Mandir in Rajajinagar on Monday."
The article further states, "This person is also responsible for keeping the entire temple premises clean and goes about his job with a quiet air of confidence. Ask him his name however and he proudly replies, “It is Saddam Hussein.” Hussein, who has studied only up to Class 2, does odd jobs, helps people in the area with shifting houses, works at a shop and also drives a cab."
An ANI report from April 11, 2019, quoted Hussein saying, "I am a Muslim by birth and have been working in this temple from last 3 years. I feel good and it gives me peace of mind. I take care of complete cleaning. No one has ever objected to it. Hindu-Muslims are like brothers and everyone in the temple, as well as my family, appreciates my work."
The New Indian Express, on its official YouTube channel, also posted a video of Hussein cleaning the temple and mosque premises at that time.
We then reached out to Saddam Hussein who refuted the viral claim and said that he was not a sculptor and was not involved in any form in the sculpting of the Ram idol to be installed in the underconstruction temple in Ayodhya.
Hussein told BOOM, "I have not made an idol for the Ram temple in Ayodhya. I do cleaning jobs."