This photo showing anti-Hindu content being taught in madrasas is digitally altered

• Murshid

A photo (here, here and here) going viral on social media claims to show a madrasa classroom where anti-Hindu content is being taught, which is written on the blackboard. Let’s find the truth behind this photo.

Claim: The viral photo shows a madrasa classroom where a teacher is teaching anti-Hindu content.

Fact: The photo has been digitally altered. The original image, shared by several media outlets in April 2018, is from a madrasa in Gorakhpur where subjects like Sanskrit, English, and Science are taught. The blackboard content seen in the viral photo is fake. Hence, the claim is FALSE.

To find the truth, a reverse image search led to an April 2018 post by ANI UP & Uttarakhand showing the same photo with different blackboard content. The caption states that Sanskrit and other subjects are taught at Darul Uloom Husainia Madrasa in Gorakhpur. In this photo, the blackboard has a different script, unlike the Hindi text seen in the viral photo, confirming that the viral photo was likely edited.

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Goarakhpur: Sanskrit, among other subjects, being taught at Darul Uloom Husainia madrasa. Principal of the madrasa says 'It's a modern madrasa under UP Education board & subjects like English, Hindi, Science, Maths & Sanskrit are taught here. They are also taught Arabic'. pic.twitter.com/g2Lc6Hm6Pq

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) April 9, 2018

A side-by-side comparison of the viral photo and the original confirms that both are visually identical in terms of people’s positions and surrounding objects. However, the blackboard content in the viral version has been digitally altered.

Further research led to several reports from April 2018 (here, here and here), some of which included the viral photo. According to these media reports, Darul Uloom Hussainia Madrasa in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, drew attention for introducing modern education, including subjects like Science, Math, English, and even Sanskrit. The madrasa functions under the UP Education Board and is part of a broader effort to modernise madrasa education across the state.

Additionally, we reviewed YouTube video reports about the incident (here, here and here), and these videos also featured the viral photo. However, the text on the blackboard in those videos is completely different from the viral version, confirming that the viral image has been digitally altered.

To sum up, this photo showing anti-Hindu content being taught in madrasas is digitally altered.