'Wikipedia wants to burn down India': BJP's Amit Malviya accuses platform of 'false claims' over 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans inciting Sambhal violence

Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) IT cell chief Amit Malviya has accused Wikipedia of inflaming communal tensions in the backdrop of the Sambhal violence by providing misinformation about the incident on its page.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Malviya wrote that while Wikipedia page of 2024 Sambhal violence claims that slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram' led to the violence, "no sloganeering, communally inflammatory remarks or even triumphalism" happened at the site.

"Wikipedia wants to burn down India! Contrary to their claim that slogans of Jai Shri Ram led to violence in Sambhal, the video footage of advocate Vishnu Jain and administration officials, entering the disputed site, for survey, on Court orders, shows no sloganeering, communally inflammatory remarks or even triumphalism," he wrote sharing a video of the incident in which the officials can be seen entering the mosque premises for the survey.

"What exactly is their agenda?," Malviya asked.

Hours after Malviya's post, the Wikipedia page. which is created and edited by volunteers around the world, was edited to remove the controversial part.

The page still does mention opposition MPs allegations that "some people accompanying the court-appointed survey commission at the mosque chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' to provoke Muslims.'

Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that the violence was a "pre-planned conspiracy aimed at hurting communal harmony."

Tension was brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when the mosque was surveyed following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.

Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel. Five people died and several others were injured in the clashes. Police have denied allegations that it fired at the protesters.

The Supreme Court has since ordered a Sambhal court to halt the proceedings in the case as well as the survey.

(With PTI inputs)