Fact Check: Viral Banner from Telangana Falsely Linked to Karnataka
Vishvas News found in its investigation that this banner is not from Karnataka. The old image from Telangana is being misrepresented as originating from Karnataka. There is no mention anywhere on the banner about offering discounts to Hindu girls visiting the mall with Muslim boys or vice versa.
- By: Pallavi Mishra
- Published: Oct 10, 2024 at 05:01 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News) A picture of a poster is viral on social media with the claim that it belongs to a mall in Karnataka. The poster shows a woman in a sari standing alongside a man wearing an Islamic cap. The viral post alleges that the banner offers a 10 to 50 percent discount to Muslim men shopping with Hindu women.
Vishvas News, in its investigation, found that the claim is misleading. The poster is not from a mall in Karnataka but from CMR Mall in Telangana. While the poster does feature a woman in traditional Hindu attire and a man in Islamic attire, there is no mention anywhere of a discount for Muslim men shopping with Hindu women. However the image in itself caused a controversy at the time, and the mall in Telangana had issued an apology in response.
What is going viral
Facebook user Anil Singh shared the picture of this poster on October 1, 2024 and wrote, “The board in Kannada says that any Muslim man accompanying a Hindu girl/woman will get a discount of 10 to 50%. Never seen a more open invitation to love jihad”
Investigation
Vishvas News had investigated the viral poster earlier as well. To find out the truth, we searched the picture using Google Lens and found that the poster has Telugu language written on it, which is the official language of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The banner reads “Ramadan Discount” in Telugu and below it are written the names of various branches of CMR Shopping Mall in Telangana. The banner gave information about CMR branches located in Patni Center near Manju Theater in Secunderabad, Malkajgiri, Siddipet and Mahbubnagar. There is no mention anywhere on the board that Hindu girls will get a discount if they come to the mall with Muslim boys or vice versa.
When we searched using Google reverse search image tool, we found several news reports of 2019 regarding this picture. According to the reports, this banner is from Telangana, where Telangana Assembly member Raja Singh condemned this controversial banner of CMR Shopping Mall.
We also found an apology note issued by CMR Telangana Shopping Mall on 31 May 2019 in this matter. The statement issued by CMR Shopping Mall said, “Apologies for the mistake on behalf of the entire CMR Telangana Group. We have no intention to hurt any religious sentiments or create any discrimination. We support all religions and respect every community without any prejudice. All the hoardings have been removed and we assure not to repeat anything like this in future. CMR Shopping Mall Andhra Pradesh is not associated or related to this in any way.”
We also contacted Asianet’s journalist KS Nirupama in Karnataka regarding this matter. She confirmed that it is not from Karnataka.
Now it was time to gather information about the user who posted the fake post. Facebook user Anil Singh has about 6000 followers.
Conclusion: Vishvas News found in its investigation that this banner is not from Karnataka. The old image from Telangana is being misrepresented as originating from Karnataka. There is no mention anywhere on the banner about offering discounts to Hindu girls visiting the mall with Muslim boys or vice versa.
- Claim Review : It is written on the banner at a mall in Karnataka that Muslim men who come to shop with Hindu women will get a discount of 10 to 50 percent.
- Claimed By : Facebook user Anil Singh
- Fact Check : False
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