By Nivedita Niranjankumar / The Wire
The official Twitter account of the High Commission of India in Ottawa, Canada claimed that a signboard at the Shri Bhagavad Gita Park in Brampton, Ontario was vandalised over the weekend.
BOOM found the claim to be false. It found that photos circulating as ‘before’ and ‘after’ and claiming to show proof of vandalism actually show two different signboards – one a temporary signboard used during the inauguration seen on a blue coloured basketball court and the other a permanent signboard placed at a different part of the park.
Furthermore, BOOM found that the photo circulating online as ‘proof’ that the signboard was erased is actually the reverse side of the permanent signboard which never had any lettering on that side but only displayed an outline of a rose, which is the official logo of Brampton.
Additionally, Peel Regional Police said on Twitter that there was no evidence of vandalism to the permanent sign or any other park structure.
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa tweeted a collage of two photos – one of a signboard with the words Shri Bhagavad Gita Park on it and another a blank signboard with only an outline of a rose on it and claimed that there was “hate crime” at the park in Brampton.
The tweet urged Canadian authorities and Peel Police to investigate and take prompt action against the perpetrators.
Following this, several Indian news outlets picked up the allegation and ran the story citing the Indian High Commission’s tweet condemning the incident. Times Now went a step further and claimed the vandalism occurred in the form of someone erasing the words Shri Bhagavad Gita Park and replacing it with an outline of a flower.
The channel also aired a graphic highlighting the same boards as tweeted by the Indian High Commission with ‘Before’ and ‘After’ insinuating that the blank board showed that the name of the park – Shri Bhagavad Gita Park had been erased.
This story was originally published in thewire.in . Read the full story here
