Time.news – At first glance it was the perfect news for the current times and to confirm a phenomenon, unfortunately real and existing, such as that of discrimination against Christians because of their beliefs: a Pakistani girl forced to convert to Islam after being raped .
Instead it was a fake: engaging, like all stories that confirm a harsh reality that exists and maybe even some stereotyped convictions. Very dangerous. So much so that the Pakistani Christians are condemning the incident now, while a Catholic site specialized in news, yes, true, has brought the lie to the surface.
This is the Fides agency, which has been part of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples of the Holy See since 1927 and therefore has seen all sorts of real things. And he knows how to distinguish, as his parts would say, wheat from chaff (the vocabulary used in a common journalistic environment is much more explicit).
Pakistan Christians
“The news went viral on social media but, upon careful verification by Fides, it turned out to be fake news: on May 24 the news spread that a 14-year-old Christian girl, Sunita Masih, was kidnapped and raped in Faisalabad (province of Punjab) by Muslim men and then forced to convert to Islam “, reports the Catholic agency.
In fact, immediately, already at the first check, the police chief of Faisalabad denied the existence of the accident. It was later said that the incident took place in Sukkur (Sindh province), but even here the police officials denied it. Two clues do not prove, but then the third came, if possible from an even more authoritative source.
When Asif Munawar, a Catholic human rights activist from Faisalabad always confirms Fides: “The news about Sunita Masih is false; the photo spread on social media is that of a girl who was kidnapped three years ago. There are people who spread false news about attacks and persecutions against religious minorities. We need to be very careful and check. The recent news of the attack on a church in Okara also turned out to be totally false. “
In short, the case is not unique, therefore it risks being authentic in one thing: in its perniciousness. Pakistan is a country torn apart by tensions: blowing the fire is the last thing to do.
The condemnation of the Peace Center
It is no coincidence that the Dominican father James Channan, who directs the “Peace Center” in Lahore, comments: “We condemn the fake news spread earlier this week on the alleged kidnapping, rape and forced conversion of a Christian girl as well as on an alleged attack on a church in Okara. Fake news is dangerous, it is horrible, it is a trap, it increases anger and trauma among people belonging to religious minorities and contributes to fueling hatred and resentment between communities of different faiths. They are a cancer for interreligious relations and they ruin the image of the country ”.
Father Channan, who works closely with Islamic leaders to build peace and harmony between people of different faiths, always says to Fides: “We must act responsibly, every time we receive a message, we must check and verify it. the truthfulness through official sources It should be noted that, with the frenetic and uncontrolled diffusion, such fake news went viral on social media, creating frustration and fear among members of religious minorities. We must be aware of the danger of the circulation of artificial news on the web and on social media ”.
A lesson from Pakistan
At this point there is only one thing left to do “denounce and stop those who intend to create havoc by spreading false news, to support their own hidden programs or personal goals. We do not deny the phenomenon of forced conversions, forced marriages and attacks that sometimes occur on churches or people of religious minorities in Pakistan; but alarmism is deleterious, it is always necessary to rely on the truth, and not to spread fake news that are counterproductive and harm the minorities themselves ”.
A final note of method: to dismantle the lie and bring out the truth, going against the interests of the factious and following those of all men of good will, after all it took little: a couple of checks. Maybe done over the phone, or with an email, as Fides did, which has been doing so since 1927, when futurism was roaring in Italy.
Stuff that takes little time and can give great results. Old journalism stuff: slowly (because waiting for an answer can take a couple of days) but surely.
A lesson for the hasty lovers of futuristic myth of the speed of news. For them, the vocabulary used in common journalistic circles remains.
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