Video of AIMIM MLA quarreling with police personnel shared as from Karnataka

By: Rahul Adhikari
May 18 2023

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Context

Siddaramaiah is set to become the next Chief Minister of Karnataka after the Congress party defeated the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a significant margin in the 2023 assembly polls. On Thursday, May 18, after days of deliberation, Congress arrived at a decision and appointed Siddaramaiah as the CM and DK Shivakumar as the deputy CM.

Amid these developments, a video is circulating on social media, claiming that a Congress MLA from Karnataka is arguing and trying to influence a police personnel. The video depicts a group of people and among them is a uniformed man. One person can be seen engaging in a conversation with him. Social media posts insinuated that the person in question is a Congress MLA who is harassing the police. Several users shared the video with a communal caption, "You have to do as we say. Congress MLA in Karnataka calling a police officer to his house and explaining in a peaceful way."

'Peaceful' is a sarcastic reference that is often used in the context of the statement that Islam is a ‘religion of peace.’

In Fact

We observed that the video identifies the person in question as "Jaffar Hussain Meraj Sb (MLA. Nampally) in Jagtial." Meraj is a member of the Telangana legislative assembly from Nampally, and a member of the political party All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The Telangana government's website also lists Jaffar Hussain as an MLA from Nampally.

Further, a report published by Deccan Chronicle dated May 11, 2023, carried a screenshot from the video and stated that Sub-Inspector A. Anil of Jagtial Rural had assaulted two women passengers – a mother and her daughter – on an RTC bus. Following the incident, the sub-inspector was suspended. AIMIM also got involved in the row, with Jaffar Hussain Meraj visiting the victims' house and later going to the office of the Superintendent of Police, A Bhaskar.

Further, the Hyderabad-based local news portal, BBN CHANNEL, published a detailed video report titled "AIMIM MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj Meets Jagtial Victim Family". The video also carries carries Meraj's statement to the media. He stated, "The victim girl, Sheik Farah, was traveling on a bus. A fellow female passenger started arguing with her, claiming that her husband is a police officer. The argument escalated, and later the fellow passenger's husband arrived, stopped the bus, and assaulted her. Upon the instructions of Assaduddin Owaisi, I came here to meet my sister Farah. The sub-inspector Anil has been suspended, and I requested the SP to impose Section 354 (outraging a woman's modesty)."

The viral video was also shared on the official AIMIM Facebook page on May 11. The title displayed on the video reads: "AIMIM MLA and AIMIM team in Jagtial."

Meraj, on his official Facebook page, also shared photos of his meeting over the matter with SP Bhaskar. They show him in the same attire as the speaker in the viral video. The MLA also shared photos of him meeting the family involved in the incident, where he is clearly identifiable as the man in the viral video.

It is evident that the viral video is from Telangana, depicting a meeting between a police personnel and AIMIM MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj. The clip has no relation to the Congress party and is unrelated to the Karnataka elections.

The Verdict

A video from Telangana, showing AIMIM MLA Jaffar Hussain Meraj conversing with a uniformed police officer, is being shared to falsely claim that a Karnataka Congress MLA was arguing with a police officer. The video actually shows the MLA conversing with a police personnel over a matter of harassment of two citizens by a Sub-Inspector. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.