A screenshot of a tweet by Akhilesh Yadav, former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh saying he would not allow the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, if Samajwadi Party was in power in the state, is fake.
The Supreme Court on November 9, 2019, in its final judgement in the Ayodhya case, ordered for the disputed land to be handed over to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple. The judgment brought to end a centuries old dispute over the religious site.
The fake viral screenshot is dated November 3, 2019, in the days leading upto the Apex court's judgement. The text in Hindi when translated to English reads, "If it was our government, I would have followed the footsteps of Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) and not allowed the Ram temple to be built, no matter how many lives would be lost."
Click here to view and here for an archive.
The screenshot refers to Yadav's father Mulayam Singh Yadav's move in 1990 when he ordered the UP police to fire at Karsevaks who had gathered at Ayodhya after call for the same by leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The move led to clashes between the police and the Karsevaks, leading to casualties. Mulayam Singh Yadav was the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh,
Viral on Facebook
A search on Facebook, showed that the fake screenshot was being widely shared with people believing that Yadav had tweeted the same.
Click here to view and here for an archive.
Click here to view and here for an archive.
Also Read: No, This Is Not An Image Of The Shivling Found At Ayodhya
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral screenshot is fake and Yadav did not tweet such a comment against the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
We also checked Yadav's Twitter timeline and did not find any such tweet dated November 3, 2019 as in the viral screenshot. An advanced Twitter search using the words, @yadavakhilesh did not show any replies to any deleted tweet by Yadav on the date mentioned in the screenshot and a search for archives of a deleted tweet also did not yield results.
WayBack Machine a digital archiving tool, also did not show archives of any tweet from Nov 3, 2019 though it showed results for Nov 4, 2019 and Nov 2, 2019 with the tweets from the day archived on November 11.
Yadav's Twitter timeline archive in November 2019
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Additionally, the screenshots that are viral have the same number of likes and retweets -- 222 retweets, 4333 likes -- which would not be the case as there would have been multiple screenshots of a tweet if Yadav had tweeted.
We also did not find any credible news reports claiming Yadav tweeted that the the Ram temple would not be allowed to be built if Samajwadi Party was in power. The only tweet from Yadav immediately after the judgment and about Ayodhya were two lines in Hindi which translate to, "
Also Read: Supreme Court Paves Way For A Ram Temple, Muslims To Get Alternate Land In Ayodhya
जो फ़ैसले फ़ासलों को घटाते हैं
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 9, 2019
वो इंसा को बेहतर इंसा बनाते हैं
(Translated in English - decisions that reduce distances, bring people closer)
On the day of the verdict, Yadav in a release said that the verdict would be remembered as a historic one and hoped that everybody would maintain peace, reported PTI.
BOOM has previously debunked fake tweets that have being shared under the name of political leaders like a fake Rahul Gandhi tweet proposing to reopen schools and colleges in the country on an odd-even basis, and a fake Amit Shah tweet requesting the Muslim community to pray for his health during Ramadan
Also Read: No, A Hanuman Idol Was Not Found At A 5-Acre Plot In Ayodhya