By Sk Badiruddin
A screenshot of a tweet claiming English Cricketer Moeen Munir Ali has demanded an apology from India and that he will boycott the Indian Premier League (IPL) following derogatory remarks made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader about Prophet Mohammad is fake.
BOOM found that the tweet is fake and no such statement was made by Ali, who plays for England and is with the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL. We also found that Ali is currently not active on any social media platforms.
Several Arab countries including Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia registered their protests with the Indian government over remarks made by now BJP leaders Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal against the Prophet Mohammad. Following heavy backlash, the BJP distanced themselves from the comments and also expelled Jindal and suspended Sharma from the party.
The viral screenshot is of a tweet from June 7, 2022 from an account named Moeen Munir Ali with the handle @Moeen_Ali18. The tweet reads, "If India does not apologize for its blasphemous statement, I will never go to India to play match again, I will also boycott the IPL. And I will appeal to my fellow Muslim brothers to do the same. I Love Muhammad P.B.U.H."
View the archived tweet here.
Several users also fall for the fake tweet thinking it as real. See such two postshere and here.
The tweet also has been shared widely on Bangla pages on Facebook by Bangaldeshi users. See two Facebook posts here and here.
Also Read: Old Video From Pak Falsely Shared As Protest Against Remarks On Prophet
Fact Check
BOOM found that '@Moeen_Ali18' account has been suspended from Twitter and currently does not exist.
We searched for the archived version of the account'@ Moeen_Ali18' and found that the profile was created on May, 2022. The account was following 26 account and had over six thousand followers before its suspension.
Additionally we found that the bio of the account reads, 'NotOfficial' and describes itself as a 'Commentary account of Moeen Ali'
BOOM checked Moeen's profile on the website of England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and found that social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram mentioned for the cricketer on the site are inactive.
The site leads to a twitter account with the handle - @MoeenAli, which is inactive.
In a blog article published by The Guardian on July 29, 2020, Moeen confessed that he longer uses social media after online abuse received by co-players.
Also Read: Old Clip Of UP Police Lathi-Charge Falsely Linked To Recent Kanpur Clashes
