Claim: A photograph from a protest in India depicts Indian Muslim journalist Rana Ayyub being manhandled by a police officer.
Fact: The photograph does not show journalist Rana Ayyub, but rather depicts Indian Muslim student activist Aysha Renna. The photo was taken in June 2022 in the city of Malappuram in Kerala.
Fact or Fiction?
On 14 June 2022, well-known Pakistani actor Shaan Shahid shared photograph of a woman protesting to his Twitter profile with the following caption:
“Jinnah was always right ..what a brave girl ..salute to her courage @RanaAyyub may ALLAH be with her ”
Screenshot of Shaan Shahid Tweet
Shahid tagged Indian Muslim journalist Rana Ayyub in his post, and stated “may Allah be with her”, suggesting the image depicts Ayyub.
Soch Fact Check carried out a Reverse Image Search on Google and found that the image was posted on Facebook page ‘Fraternity Movement Kerala’ on 13 June 2022 as part of a collage of news clippings. The post was captioned, “Take to the streets against the bulldozer resignation of the Hindutva government ..Newspaper reports of protests in district centers.”
The protest at which the photo appears to have been taken was arranged by the Fraternity Movement Kerala, a student wing of the Welfare Party of India, to demonstrate against the razing of the home of organization leader Afreen Fatima by the Kerala police. . The woman shown in the photo in question is Aysha Renna, a student activist affiliated with the Fraternity Movement Kerala.
Soch Fact Check found a video of a report on the protest in which Aysha Renna can be seen being manhandled during a police crackdown on the protest. Here is a post from the verified Facebook profile of Aysha Renna about the same protest.
Virality
The viral tweet by Shaan Shahid received over 8,960 likes, over 2,200 retweets and 40 quote retweets.
The image with the false claim has been shared widely, including here, here, here, here and here on Twitter, and here and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The photograph shared in a tweet by actor Shaan Shahid does not depict Indian Muslim journalist Rana Ayyub being manhandled by police. The image appears to have been taken at a protest in Kerala in June 2022 and shows Indian Muslim student activist Aysha Renna.