Brampton man falsely named in Paris attacks
A Spanish newspaper mistakenly identified a Sikh Canadian man as “one of the terrorists” behind the Paris attacks after a doctored image went viral online.
La Razon newspaper apologized for printing Veerender Jubbal’s photo on its Nov. 15 front page with the caption “one of the terrorists.”
Jubbal, a 21-year-old from Bramp- ton, said the “past 48 hours have been deeply disturbing” in a statement to the Star. He highlighted the broader impact of the image going viral for the Sikh community, which he says has “faced significant violence and discrimination” in the af- termath of major terrorist attacks such as the one on Friday.
“I ask that the media outlets that ran my image immediately retract my photo and apologize, but also take the time to learn and educate their readers about the Sikh faith,” he continued. The original image, which Jubbal shared on Twitter in August, shows him taking a selfie with an iPad in front of a bathroom mirror. The edited image appears to show Jubbal holding a Qur’an and wearing a vest laden with explosives, with a sex toy in the background.
“When we paint entire faiths and communities with the same brush stroke, we further give terrorists exactly what they want,” Jubbal said in Monday’s statement.
“This false image is an opportunity for all of us to hopefully grow together in our shared understanding for one another.”
Jubbal’s doctored image was also shared by Italian television channel and Fox affiliate Sky TG24, with the caption: “ISIS sent a photo of the alleged kamikaze.”
The edited image was created and tweeted as early as Aug. 15 this year.
Now-suspended Twitter user @abutalut8 and accounts supposedly affiliated with Islamic State began sharing the photo with the caption: “BREAKING, one Islamic State attacker in #ParisAttacks was a sikh convert to Islam.”
“People are editing, and photoshopping my selfies as if I am one of the people causing the issues/problems in Paris,” Jubbal said in a Saturday Twitter post that received more than 3,000 retweets.
“Let us start with the basics. Never been to Paris. Am a Sikh dude with a turban. Lives in Canada,” he tweeted.
He posted that his family in India phoned to say they had seen it in the India Times and he was currently contemplating whether to sue.
“This whole thing puts me in a bad position in the sense, where I could be harmed and/or hurt due to this,” he continued.