Indian PM Modi (right) and BJP member Priti Gandhi. Photo: India Today

Priti Gandhi, a social media in-charge of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, on Friday shared an old image of the Pakistan cricket team performing their religious duty of prayer and accused the cricketers of forcing non-Muslim members of the team to join them.

The image, apparently from the time when former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was leading the team, was shared with a caption wrongly identifying a man as former spin bowler Danish Kaneria, and referred to former batsman Mohammad Yousuf as Yousuf Youhana.

The photo was shared in relation to a recent statement made by former pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar regarding the ill-treatment meted out to Kaneria by some members of the Pakistan cricket team during the playing days of the spinner, allegedly because of his Hindu faith.

However, it seemed that Gandhi, in her zeal to share the news, apparently did not know what Kaneria looked like. The BJP member also appeared to be uniformed about the religious and spiritual journey of Yousuf, who has previously said that he accepted Islam long before he made it public.

Social media users were aghast at this blatant display of disinformation by a high-ranking member of the ruling party in India. Umer Farooq Kalson, a Pakistani journalist, even went as far as to school Gandhi about sharing fake news on social media.

The ruling BJP has been accused of following hard-line policies aimed at marginalizing the Muslim-minority in the country by Prime Minister Imran Khan on multiple occasions. PM Imran has also warned of an impending genocide of Muslims in the Hindu-majority India.