On Thursday night, a group of unidentified men viciously attacked 23-year-old Mohammed Fazil in Surathkal, a town outside of Mangalore. He succumbed to his injuries later at the hospital after suffering severe wounds.
However, even before he was declared dead, some pro-BJP pages and their supporters started publishing fabricated reports that Fazil was murdered over an affair with a Sunni girl.
“Fight in Suratkal between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims over love affairs. A low-caste Shia Muslim who fell in love with an upper-caste Sunni Muslim girl was beheaded by Sunni Muslims. The condition of the young man is serious,” BJP supporters had circulated the message.
Many mainstream newspapers and TV channels also reported the same fabricated story.
After the message spread by BJP supporters went viral on social media, Mangaluru City Commissioner Shashikumar also said that the false messages should not be spread and the reason for the murder is still unknown. The media and the public were urged not to spread rumours.
Meanwhile, Kannada media reported that former MLA of Suratkal Constituency, Moideen Bava had said, “This is a murder due to a love affair”. However, Bava clarified saying, “I have not made such a statement. I will file a case against Suvarna News for distorting my statement.”
Deccan Herald, a leading English newspaper of the country, “quoted police sources” as saying, “Preliminary investigation suggests that Fazil was killed as he was in love with a girl from Shia community. Mohammed is a Sunni Muslim, police source said.”
However, the sect of Fazil has been changed in this report from the message spread by BJP supporters.
Citing this report by the newspaper, Opindia, a Hindutva propaganda website reported with the headline, “Reports suggest Sunni Fazil was in love with a Shia girl.”
Meanwhile, Fazil is not a Shia as the BJP supporters claimed and belonged to the Sunni Muslim community. On Friday, his last rites were performed at a Muhiyuddin Masjid, Mangalpet, Suratkal, which is a Sunni mosque.
On Saturday, police said they detained 21 people from Suratkal, Bajpe, Panambur and Mulki for inquiry.
Right-wing Fabrication Of Fazil’s Murder Into Sunni-Shia Love Controversy
Locals have pointed out that there are no Shia people in the region. They said that the right-wing supporters have maliciously spread the Sunni Shia fabrication to avoid the investigation.
Ismath Pajeer, a cultural thinker and writer from the Muslim Beary community, said the “Sunni-Shia love controversy” was a fabrication created by the right wing. “Actually there is little or no Shia community in coastal Karnataka, although there are a handful of rich people who come to do business. They do not socialize with the Beary community (local Muslims) here. They do not know the Beary language,” he told the Kannada website Nanugauri.
Speaking about the report that Fazil’s murder was due to a Sunni-Shia love affair, Pajeer said, “It is sad that even a reliable newspaper like Deccan Herald picked up a fabricated story as a news source and published a report saying that the top police officers had said it.”
Right-wing groups and their websites are trying to spread false messages to influence the investigation of a brutal murder case. While the media should act responsibly, in Karnataka it is acting to influence the case.
