Kavita Krishnan uses old photo to claim Modi & Nitish were laughing after Pulwama

Kavita Krishnan tweeted a photo of Modi and Nitish, who were in Bihar Sunday, sharing a laugh on-stage at an event.

The picture tweeted by Kavita Krishnan

New Delhi: Social activist and politician Kavita Krishnan sought to call out Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Sunday for being “insensitive” in light of last week’s Pulwama terror attack, by sharing a photo that showed the duo sharing a laugh at a rally.

“The entire country is mourning since the attack in Pulwama,” Krishnan wrote on the microblogging website Twitter. “But Modi and his friends – like Nitish and Sakshi Maharaj – are smiling, enjoying election gatherings, so much so that Sakshi even thought the funeral was an election gathering,” she added.

Apart from the Prime Minister and Bihar Chief Minister, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) leader was referring to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj, who has been criticised for laughing and waving to a crowd Saturday during the funeral procession of one of the over 40 personnel killed in the Pulwama attack.

Modi and Nitish, meanwhile, did share the stage at Barauni, Bihar, Sunday for the launch of projects worth of Rs 33,000 crore, including the Patna Metro Rail Project. However, the photo Krishnan tweeted is four years old.

Fact-check

The photograph of Modi and Nitish tweeted by Krishnan was taken a few months before the Bihar assembly election of 2015, when the two shared the stage in Patna for the launch of a railway project.

It was two years after Nitish’s Janata Dal (United) had called it quits with the BJP, and two years before they came back together.

Asked about her tweet, Krishnan said while the photo itself might be old, her claim wasn’t false.

“I first checked that Modi and Nitish were at Barauni yesterday, and found a picture of them laughing there, before sharing the other picture,” she told ThePrint.

“I grant that the picture I shared might be an old one but the fact remains that these two were exchanging inappropriate grins and laughs yesterday at Barauni,” she added.

She also clarified her stance on Twitter.

I'm informed by @deekbhardwaj that an image I shared of Modi & Nitish yesterday was an old one. It was. But it stands that at Barauni yesterday there ARE pics of the two exchanging inappropriate laughter. Screenshot of the Barauni picture also attached here. So my comment stands pic.twitter.com/FeBldXYfZI

— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) February 18, 2019

Krishnan’s attack on the leaders comes at a time when Kashmiri students across India have reportedly expressed concerns for their safety, with many alleging harassment and threats from Sangh affiliates like the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal, ostensibly as retaliation for the Pulwama attack.

“But who will surround these people?” Krishnan said on Twitter. “Everyone is busy surrounding Kashmiri students and shopkeepers.”

In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer.