Rajasthan compensation to Kanhaiya Lal & Iqbal: ‘Discrimination’ claim false – Alt News

On September 29, two youths named Iqbal and Rahul were involved in a bike collision in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Following the accident, they got into a fight with each other. When bystanders tried to intervene, Iqbal got into an argument with them. The group reportedly attacked Iqbal with sticks and left him bleeding. He was later admitted to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. This sparked tension in the area, prompting the deployment of large number of police personnel.

Taking cognizance of the matter, Rajasthan’s Ashok Gehlot administration announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the family of the deceased and a job and dairy booth to one of his family members.

It is worth noting that Rajasthan will be going to the polls later this year. In the run up to the same, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has mentioned the Kanhaiya Lal murder case from time to time while addressing public gatherings in Rajasthan and has accused the Congress of Muslim appeasement and indulging in vote bank politics.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Surendra Jain, while accusing Congress of Muslim appeasement on a show on Republic Bharat channel, claimed that the Rajasthan government had offered a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the murder of Kanhaiya Lal, and Rs 50 lakh to Iqbal’s family.

Following this, many users including BJP leaders were seen sharing a picture of a bank cheque. The photo shows a cheque worth Rs 50 lakh signed by the district collector of Jaipur, Rajasthan in the name of Naima Parveen. It has been claimed that after the murder of Kanhaiya Lal in Udaipur, the Rajasthan government only offered his family a Rs. 5 lakh sum as compensation.

Uttar Pradesh BJP’s IT cell co-chief Abhishek Tiwari claimed in a tweet, “You must understand what appeasement is. The Rajasthan government announced a government compensation of Rs 50 lakh for Iqbal, who was killed in a mutual enmity case in Ramganj, Jaipur. When Kanhaiya Lal was brutally murdered in Udaipur, a compensation of only Rs 5 lakh was offered. The difference is clear, this is the discriminatory policy of the Congress. (Archived link)

Right Wing parody handle ‘@choga_don’ also shared the photo of the cheque with the same claim. (Archived link)

The claim is widespread across social media platforms.

Fact Check

We performed a keyword search on Google, which led us to a report in Hindi daily Hindustan dated June 29, 2022. It is mentioned here that chief minister Ashok Gehlot had announced an assistance amount of Rs 50 lakh to the family of the deceased Kanhaiya Lal.

In a tweet posted the same day, Gehlot also shared how his administration was providing assistance of Rs 50 lakh to the family of the deceased Kanhaiya Lal.

प्रदेशवासियों को विश्वास दिलाता हूं कि जिस तरह पोक्सो एक्ट के कई प्रकरणों में त्वरित कार्रवाई कर अपराधियों को सजा दिलाई, उसी तरह उदयपुर सहित अन्य मामलों में भी कड़ी कार्रवाई की जाएगी।

— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) June 29, 2022

We also came across a press release dated June 30, 2022 related to this matter on the website of the department of information and public relations of the Rajasthan government. It is clearly stated here that chief minister Ashok Gehlot had visited Kanhaiya Lal’s house in Udaipur, paid his respects to him and presented a cheque of Rs 50 lakh to his wife.

The department itself had also clarified the viral claim was false in a tweet posted on October 2.

सोशल मीडिया पर प्रसारित समाचार-
जयपुर के रामगंज में आपसी झगड़े में मारे गए इकबाल को 50 लाख सरकारी मुआवजे की घोषणा, उदयपुर में कन्हैयालाल की बेरहमी से हत्या की गई थी तब 5 लाख का मुआवजा दिया गया था

उक्त खबर गलत, भ्रामक एवं तथ्यहीन है#FactCheck pic.twitter.com/S1E4sWmwic

— DIPR Rajasthan Fact Check (@Diprfactcheck) October 2, 2023

To sum it up, a number of BJP leaders, Right Wing handles and social media users falsely claimed that the Rajasthan government had discriminated in the cases of the deceased Kanhaiya Lal and Iqbal by giving a financial assistance amount of Rs 50 lakh to Iqbal’s family, while only offering Rs 5 lakh to Lal’s family. This claim is absolutely false, as an amount of Rs 50 lakh each was given to the families of both victims.

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