An image of a large building complex with a signboard stating "Babri Hospital" is viral with the claims that it is the schema of the new hospital that has been proposed by the Sunni Waqf board in the 5-acre land assigned by the Supreme Court for the reconstruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya.
The claim is false; the schema is actually that of the University of Virginia Hospital at Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, and the signboard saying "Babri Hospital" has been edited into the image.
These posts are being shared in the backdrop of the Bhumi Pujan - the Foundation Stone Laying ceremony for the Ram Temple at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, which was held on August 5, 2020. Two days before the ceremony, Athar Husain, the spokesperson of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF) which is responsible for the building of the mosque, told Hindustan Times that the site will not just be used for a mosque but also to build a hospital and a cultural centre.
The image of the hospital complex along with the signboard was shared on Facebook with the following caption (In both English and Hindi):
The image also contains two more signs saying "Dept. Of Cancer" and "Dept. Of Corona". While this initially suggested that the photo may have started off satire, the comments and the captions revealed that people sharing the photo fell for the false caption.We welcome the decision of the Sunni Waqf Board to set up a Babri Hospital and Museum on 5 acres of land in Ayodhya allotted by the Supreme Court. People of all faiths All religions will benefit from this great decision which has gone beyond narrow religious sentiments. #BabriHospital
सुप्रीम कोर्ट द्वारा आवंटित अयोध्या में 5 एकड़ जमीन पर एक बाबरी अस्पताल और संग्रहालय स्थापित करने के सुन्नी वक्फ बोर्ड के निर्णय का हम स्वागत करते हैं। सभी धर्मों के लोग इस महान निर्णय से लाभान्वित होंगे जो संकीर्ण धार्मिक भावनाओं से परे है। #BabriHospital
Click here to view an archived version of the post.
The same image was also shared with similar claims in Bangla on Facebook.
Fact Check
We did a reverse image search of the viral photo, which led us to a website belonging to the Smith Group - an architectural planning firm. The webpage carried the viral image, and described it as the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States - which the firm claimed to have designed.
We noticed that this image, while almost similar to the viral image, did not contain any signboard saying "Babri Hospital".
Click here to view the image in the website.
We looked at the LinkedIn page of the University of Virginia Health System, and found the same image being used as cover photo. To view the full image, go to their LinkedIn page, right click on the cover page and click on "View Image".
The following image will open up.
The image did not contain any signboard saying "Babri Hospital", nor did it contain the other signs saying "Dept. of Cancer" and "Dept. of Corona".
We also reached out to Zufar Ahmed, the Chairman of the Sunni Waqf Board to ascertain whether a blueprint of such a hospital has been released. The article will be updated upon getting a response.