These quotes on ‘ABP’ templates attributed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are morphed images - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 5, 2021
An image with ‘Breaking News’ templates of ‘ABP’ news channel is being shared on social media with the following quotes attributed to Rahul Gandhi-‘It is important to help Pakistan and we will definitely help them’, ‘As soon as our government gets formed, we will give five thousand crore loan to Pakistan without interest for 50 years’, ‘Congress Party belongs to Muslims and will remain theirs’ and ‘My ancestors were Muslims, I am Muslim’ (English Translations). Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: ‘ABP’ Breaking news templates mentioning Rahul Gandhi’s recent statements on Pakistan and the Congress party.
Fact: The image shared in the post is an edited one. The font used in the ‘ABP’ ‘Breaking News’ template is different from the font in the posted image. ABP news channel itself had debunked a couple of quotes mentioned in the post. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched to check whether the ‘ABP’ news channel had telecasted such quotes attributing them to Rahul Gandhi, it is found out that ‘ABP’ news channel had itself debunked a couple of statements mentioned in the post. The statements debunked by the ‘ABP’ news channel are ‘मेरे पूर्वज मुस्लिम थे, मैं मुसलमान हू’, ‘हमारी सरकार बनते ही पाकिस्तान को 5 हजार करोड़ कर्ज देंगे बिना ब्याज 50 साल के लिए’. ‘ABP’ news channel clarified that they did not telecast these ‘Breaking News’ templates of Rahul Gandhi. They mentioned these templates as doctored images.
#Urgent: This is to notify that the attached media which is being circulated online has been doctored with our channel's template. The information about Sh. Rahul Gandhi's statements, which these images carry have not been reported by ABP & have no relation with ABP News Network. pic.twitter.com/qYU2sJXqsl
In the past, the same ‘कोंग्रेस मुस्लिमों की है, और उनकी ही रहेगी’ statement was attributed to Rahul Gandhi on social media. An Urdu news website ‘Inquilab’ had first published this statement attributing to Rahul Gandhi. But, Congress leaders denied Rahul Gandhi making such a statement. They clarified that Rahul Gandhi had not made any such statement stating Congress as a Muslim party. Rahul Gandhi in a tweet stated Congress as an unbiased political party that belongs to every religion in the country.
I stand with the last person in the line. The exploited, marginalised and the persecuted. Their religion, caste or beliefs matter little to me.
I seek out those in pain and embrace them. I erase hatred and fear.
I love all living beings.
I am the Congress.
Regarding the last statement (‘पाकिस्तान की मदद करना जरूरी है और हम यह जरूर करेंगे’), we could not find any reliable information to confirm that Rahul Gandhi had made these comments on helping Pakistan. On comparing the ‘Breaking News’ template text in the post with the text of the actual ‘Breaking News’ template of the ‘ABP’ news channel, we could observe the differences in the font. Also, the word ‘कांग्रेस’ is misspelled as ‘कोग्रेस’ in these screenshots.
FACTLY had earlier debunked images with similar ‘ABP’ templates that claimed Rahul Gandhi’s family affiliation to Muslims.
To sum it up, these ‘ABP’ news templates with Rahul Gandhi’s recent statements on Pakistan and Congress party are morphed images.