On July 14, former BJP MP Sambhajiraje Chhatrapati along with his supporters organized a Chalo Vishalgad march to the fort to protest against the encroachments. Violence broke out during the protest, with people vandalising shops and trying to attack a mosque within the fort’s vicinity.
Afterward, politicians and government officials visited the areas to establish peace in the region. A picture of Congress Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj is now circulating on social media. The image shows Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj holding his ears while talking to a group of women. Many users, influencers, propagandists, and political workers have shared the image. And claimed that the Congress MP was seen apologizing to the Muslim community by holding his ears. However, D-Intent Data has found that this image has been taken out of context and is being misrepresented on social media.
Image disseminated by propagandists
Several users, influencers, propagandists and political workers have disseminated the image of Congress Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj holding his ears while talking to women.
Sharing the image, serial fake news peddler and propagandist account @MrSinha_ on X (Formerly Twitter) wrote. The man holding his ears and apologising to MusIims is the descendant of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Congress MP Shahu Chhatrapati. Apologising for encroachments drive against illegal Dargah-Mazars.Shivaji Maharaj fought against the same forces for life. The Mughals couldn’t force him to kneel but today one of his descendents is kneeling to them for a few votes… Sad… This is an insult of the legacy of Shivaji Maharaj. Later, he deleted the post.
Another fake news peddler and propagandist account @rishibagree has also disseminated the the image and said. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj descendant, Shahu Chhatrapati, Congress MP from Kolhapur holding his ears. And seeking an apology from the local minority community for the anti-encroachments drive on historic Vishalghad. Descendants keep shaming legacies in Maharashtra.
Several other users, influencers, propagandists and political workers have also shared the image and made similar claims. Their posts can be seen here. SunainaHoley, @smitadeshmukh, @IamTheStory__, @Politicspedia23.
Truth about the viral image, Fact Check
As soon as the posts containing the image of Congress Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj holding his ears while talking to women came to our notice. We conducted research and found a video on Mumbai Tak’s YouTube channel.
The video uploaded by Mumbai Tak media outlet contained the same visual at 1:43 time mark. In the video it is clearly audible that he was responding to a woman’s complaint when she said they entered the house and snatched a woman’s earrings. By holding his ears, he tried to verify that she was talking about the earrings. He didn’t apologize to the Muslims by holding his ears.
Hence, it is evident from D-Intent Data’s Fact Check that the image of Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj holding his ears while talking to women has been shared out-of-context.
Intent
Social media users, Influencers, propagandists and political workers are circulating selective images of Congress Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj with misleading claims to set their narrative.
Conclusion
Claim- Image shows Kolhapur MP Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj holding his ears. And apologising to the Muslims for the encroachment drive against illegal structures.
Fact- The Congress MP was responding to a woman’s complaint when she said they entered the house and snatched a woman’s earrings. By holding his ears, he tried to verify that she was talking about the earrings.
