Image of IUML Building Falsely Shared as Cong Office in Wayanad

The building is owned by the IUML and is located in Iqbal Nagar, Kasaragod.

The viral image claims that it is the building of Congress in Wayanad, the constituency of Rahul Gandhi.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A viral photo claims that a green coloured building is the office of Congress in Kerala’s Wayanad, which is the parliamentary constituency of Rahul Gandhi. Several social media users have shared it with the claim that the flag of Pakistan is painted on it.

However, The Quint's Webqoof team found out that the claim is false and it is the Iqbal Nagar Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) centre in Kerala’s Kasaragod district.

CLAIM

The claim along with the photo in Hindi reads, "नहीं-नहीं यह कोई पाकिस्तान नहीं है...यह तो वायनाड केरल का कांग्रेस कार्यालय है, जहाँ से राहुल गांधी सांसद है, इसे देखकर ही कम से कम सेक्युलिरिज्म का चोला ओढ़े हिन्दुओं को कुछ तो अक्ल आ जानी चाहिए कि आखिर कब तक आप कांग्रेस को हिन्दुओं की पार्टी मानने की भूल करते रहेंगे....!!

(Translation: No, No this is not Pakistan...this is the office of Congress in Kerala's Wayanad, which is the constituency of Rahul Gandhi. By seeing this, secular Hindu people must think that until how long will they think Congress to be the party for Hindus...)

An archived link of this post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The post has been massively viral on Facebook and Twitter.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

Several social media users have shared the claim on Facebook and Twitter and the archived links can be found here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

Firstly, the flag is not that of Pakistan but of IUML. We have debunked several such claims in the past.

While Pakistan’s flag has a white border and the crescent moon and the star are facing right, in the IUML flag, the crescent moon and star are facing left.

Flag of Pakistan (left), IUML flag (right)

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

We found a clearer image of the viral image shared by BJP leader Ravindra Fauzdar in 2019.

(Source: Twitter/Altered by The Quint)

In this photo the numbers point to:

1. I Moythu Haji Smaraka Soudham (Smaraka Soudham translates to memorial building)
2. Iqbal Nagar League House
3. Photo of Panakkad Syed Muhammedali Shihab Thangal
4. League House
5. Photo of former CM CH Mohammed Koya
6. Flex board of Congress candidate of Kasaragod, Rajmohan Unnithan for 2019 Assembly elections.
7. Iqbal Ngr

PHOTOS OF IUML LEADERS IN BUILDING

All of these point to the fact that the building is related to IUML as Panakkad Thangal was an IUML leader who passed away in 2009 and his photo can be found here. CH Mohammed Koya (number 5) was the Chief Minister of Kerala and the first IUML member to lead a state in independent India.

As the flex board (number 6) shows Rajmohan Unnithan as the Congress candidate, we can say that it is an old photo. He is now the Lok Sabha MP of Congress from Kasaragod. The IUML is an important constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala.

We then looked for the ‘ladder’ symbol that’s visible the photo (number 1) on the Election Commission of India (ECI) website and found it is the party symbol of IUML.

The ladder is the party symbol of IUML.

(Source: ECI/Screenshot/Altered by The Quint)

Next, we did a keyword search with ‘Iqbal Ngr’ which is painted on the pillar and that led us to a post by A P Moidu, who had posted on 23 February 2019 about the inauguration of the building that is now being passed-off as the office of Congress in Wayanad.

We also found the words I Moythu Haji Smaraka Soudham (number 1) and Iqbal Nagar league house (number 2) on his post's caption from 2019, matching our search.

We reached out to Adeeb Moidu, son of late IUML party worker AP Moidu, who confirmed that it is the photo of the IUML building at Ajanur, Kanhangad in Kasaragod district.

In another post, there were photos of the under construction building.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

We also did a comparison of the two images and found similarities.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

We reached out to Youth Congress Wayanad district President, Samshad Marakkar, who sent us the latest photos of the Congress' office in Wayanad.

Collage picture of Congress office, Wayanad. 

(Source: Samshad  Marakkar)

Clearly, an misleading post was shared on social media claiming to be the office of Congress in Wayanad.

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