Fact Check: The letter going viral with the name ‘Sunni Muslims Majlis’ is fake

New Delhi Vishvas News – Amidst the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, a letter attributed to the  alleged organisation ‘Sunni Muslims Majlis’ (Dubai) is going viral on social media. The letter   offers full financial assistance to the Muslims voters, covering expenses from ticket booking onwards, with the aim of ousting the  BJP government.

Vishvas News in its investigation found that the letter circulating in the name of ‘Sunni Muslims Majlis’ (Dubai) is fake. The phone number used in this letter is of a cafe in Dubai and the office address belongs to Pakistan’s Dubai Consulate. The fake letter is being shared  in connection with the Lok Sabha elections, 2024.

What Is There In The Viral Post?

The viral letter dated April 9, 2024, falsely claims to be from ‘Association Of Sunni Muslims.  It announced full financial support, including ticket booking and reimbursement for already booked tickets, to Muslims voters in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on May 7, 2024, in Karnataka and other states. The objective is to defeat fascist forces and reinstate the Indian National Congress (INC), which is a true ally of Muslims, to power in these elections.’

View the archived post here.

 Investigation

To commence our investigation, we initiated a Google search for ‘Association of Sunni Muslims’ (Dubai). However, we did not find any organisation with this name in Dubai, nor any verified account was identified. Proceeding with our investigation, we searched the address of ‘Association of Sunni Muslims’ (Dubai), as mentioned in the viral letter and our investigation led us to the  address of the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai.

It is evident that the address of the Pakistan Consulate has been used in the name of Association of Sunni Muslims (Dubai), i.e., a fake address is mentioned in the viral letter.

Subsequently, upon contacting the first phone provided in the viral letter, we received a  response that this number belongs to a cafe in Dubai. Regarding the viral post, the individual stated, “Regarding the claim of Sunni Muslim Association’s alleged involvement in providing financial assistance to Muslim voters in the Indian general elections, I would like to clarify that I am not affiliated with the Sunni Muslim Association or the organisation mentioned in the claim. I have nothing to do with this matter.” Additionally, he also shared the cafe’s website and social media handles with us.

So far, our investigation has revealed both the address and phone number  used in the viral letter are incorrect. However, taking our investigation forward, we tried to contact the remaining two numbers. We will update the news shortly as soon as we receive a response from them..

To verify the authenticity of the viral post, we reached out to  Sanya Aziz, a journalist  and fact checker in the United Arab Emirates and according to her, this letter is fake. She explained that establishing a religious  organisation for non-UAE citizens is challenging. Even if they get permission, they are not allowed to issue political statements like this. Additionally, she also clarified that the address mentioned in the  letter is of the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai and not of any religious organisation.

Upon analysing the Facebook profile of the users who shared fake posts, we found that posts are related to a particular ideology.