A Tamil daily on September 18, had carried a story in which it said that Indu Makkal Katchi would offer 1 lakh to anyone who would beat actor Suriya.
The report alleged that at an event organized to commemorate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, the district head of the party for Dindigul, Dharma, had said that anyone who beat actor Suriya in a public place would be rewarded a cash award of ₹ 1 lakh.
However, the Indu Makkal Katchi has refuted these allegations and has distanced itself from the remarks made by the said person.
Responding to the incident, the IMK tweeted “What RS Bharathi says [referring to the disparaging remarks by the DMK Rajya Sabha MP] is not DMK’s or Stalin’s opinion. When VCK cadres say that ‘we will marry Gounder girls, Chettiar girls’ it is not considered as VCK’s or Thirumavalan’s opinion. Then how can this be attributed to IMK or Arjun Sampath?”
RS பாரதி சொன்னது மட்டும் தனிப்பட்ட கருத்து,திமுகாவோ ஸ்டாலின் கருத்துதோ அப்போ கிடையாது
கௌண்டர் புள்ளைய கட்டுவேன் செட்டியார் புள்ளைய கட்டுவேன் னு சொன்னது மட்டும் VCK கருத்தோ திருமா கருத்தோ இல்லை.ஆனா இது மட்டும் எப்பிடி அர்ஜுன் சம்பத் கருத்தோ இந்து மக்கள் கட்சி சொன்ன கருத்தோ ஆகும் https://t.co/W5MDsJx3wY
— Indu Makkal Katchi – இந்து மக்கள் கட்சி ( Off ) (@Indumakalktchi) September 19, 2020
But the incident became a fodder for fake news. A Facebook page named “Clown Media” which also runs a Youtube channel with the same name had peddled fake news in which it carried a picture of IMK’s head Arjun Sampath as saying that the party will offer ₹ 1 lakh prize money for anyone who thrashes actor Suriya. In the same picture it quoted actor Surya as saying “if that ₹ 1 lakh will help a student’s education, I am ready”.
However, Suriya had made no such statements. This picture of Clown Media has gone viral on social media.
The Commune found that the facebook page “Clown Media” is run by a group of Islamists. Here are some of posts from its Facebook page.
It had called the signing of peace deals by UAE and Bahrain with Israel as ‘dangerous’. It also calls for an “organized resistance” to finish off Israel.
The people behind the channel also seem to have close links with the rabid Islamist organization Social and Democratic Party of India (SDPI).
The Indu Makkal Katchi has said that it is in the process of finding the members, admins and the patrons of the Facebook page and Youtube channel and added that they would be proceeding legally for spreading fake news. After the news was busted to be fake, the page has now taken down the post.