Did Malabar Gold & Diamonds provide scholarships only to Muslim students?
Claim
Malabar gold is a Muslim owned shop, scholarship is given only for the Muslim girls. We Hindus should…?
Rating
Explanation
An image of a group of girl students in burqa is shared on social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook with the claim that Malabar gold has given scholarships only to Muslim girl students as it is a Muslim-owned shop. Posts with similar claims can be seen here, here, here, and here.
What is the truth?
When searching the image with Google lens, no relevant result was found. When searching with the keywords ‘Malabar scholarships’, 21, January 2023 dated video posted by ‘Malabar Gold and Diamonds’ Youtube channel with the title ‘Educational Scholarship Program | CSR Initiative | Malabar Group’ is found. The video is found carrying the viral image in it. The video mentions the image location as Mangalore and the number of students as 630. The other image displayed along with the viral image shows a group of girl students without hijab.
The description part reads “Malabar Group is proud to share a glimpse of our Educational Scholarship program that has brightened the futures of 4000+ girl scholars from deserving backgrounds across Karnataka Region in this financial year alone. These scholarships were awarded by Malabar Charitable Trust as part of our stated CSR policy to keep aside 5% of our profits for charitable purposes. Beneficiaries included students from all sections of society without narrow considerations. We thank you for your patronage which has helped us give back to society and strengthened our position as The Responsible Jeweller.”
When searching further with the keywords ‘Mangalore Malabar scholarships’, multiple articles published in the previous years about Malabar scholarships are found. Daiji World article dated 19, January 2023 is found carrying the viral image along with other images from the event which shows that non-Muslim students also have received scholarships. The article mentions that the event was a part of the CSR activity of Malabar Gold and Diamonds.
A Facebook post dated 18, January 2023 by ‘Girish S Rai’ whose profile says that he is working as a Manager in Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Mangalore is found carrying the viral image along with other images. Other images show students with no burqa or hijab proving that students were not selected based on their religion.
A couple of other Facebook posts by Sudheer Kulal Kumbla and Thanzeem Shirva show the poster of the 17, January 2023 event of scholarships distribution by Malabar Gold and Diamonds in the Mangalore region. This poster has a set of pictures including the viral image in it. The viral image is mentioned as ‘Govt, PU College, Uppinangady’.
Conclusion
It is found that Malabar Gold and Diamonds did not provide scholarships only to Muslim students but to eligible students from all categories. It is evident that it is falsely claimed as scholarships were provided only to Muslim students by sharing one particular photo showing all girls with the burqa.
Proof Links
