A photo of Priyanka Gandhi’s wedding is being shared on social media with a claim that maulana and MP Shafiqur Rahman Virk (SP MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq) can be seen performing Islamic rituals at the wedding. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Maulana and MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq performing Islamic rituals at Priyanka Gandhi’s wedding.
Fact: The man in the photo is neither a maulana nor MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq. He is Pandit Iqbal Kishen Reu, who performed the marriage of Priyanka Gandhi according to Kashmiri Pandit traditions. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On doing Google Reverse Image Search, the same photo was not found in the search results. But it was found that a similar photo was tweeted by Priyanka Gandhi in 2019 with the text – ‘Morning puja on the day of my wedding (22 years ago)’. When searched with keywords, an India Today article on ‘Priyanka Gandhi-Robert Vadra wedding’ can be found in the search results. In the article, it can be read that ‘the same priest that married her grandmother will grace this occasion too’. But no details about the priest were given. In the ‘Daily O’ article, it was written that ‘the family priest, Iqbal Kishan Reu, performed the rites’. So, when searched with that name on Google, an article on the ‘Kashmiri Pandit Network’ website was found. In the article, it can be read that Pandit Iqbal Kishen Reu was a practising Kul Purohit and performed the marriage of Priyanka Gandhi with Robert Vadra according to Kashmiri Pandit’s traditions. More articles regarding the marriage can be found here and here.
The ‘Alt News’ had also spoken to an ex-journalist and confirmed that the man in the photo is Iqbal Kishan Reu, a Kashmiri Pandit, not a maulana. More photos from the puja event were posted by multiple users on social media, which can be found here.
To sum it up, the man in this Priyanka Gandhi’s wedding photo is neither a maulana nor MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq. He is Iqbal Kishan Reu, a Kashmiri Pandit.
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