by Aishwarya Varma/The Quint
The event is neither funded nor associated with Tata Trusts, the organisation clarified.
Social media users are sharing posts to claim that Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Member of Parliament, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, better known as Engineer Rashid, was recently honoured with an award at an event funded by Tata Trusts.
The claim: Those sharing these posts have claimed that Rashid, who is in jail over terror funding charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), was honoured with the Ratan Tata Visionary Icon Award 2025 at an event sponsored by Tata Trusts And Delhi Today Group,
(Archived versions of more claims can be seen here, here, and here.)
Is it true?: No, the event was not sponsored or funded by the Tata Group.
- In a statement issued by Tata Trusts, they clarified that they had no association with the event or award.
- How did we find out the truth?: We ran a keyword search using the award’s name to look for more information.
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- In a report by Hindustan Times, we learned that the event, organised by the Delhi Today group had invited Rashid as a guest of honour and would also honour him with the Ratan Tata National Icon Award 2025 on 10 February in Delhi.
- This report did not mention the Tata Group or Tata Trusts.
It has been brought to our notice that the ‘India Visionary Leaders Summit: 2025’ and the ‘Ratan Tata National Icon Award 2025’ is being organized in February 2025, and claims are being made that the event(s) are being supported by Tata Trusts. pic.twitter.com/QVd3Caihoi
— Tata Trusts (@tatatrusts) January 28, 2025
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- Next, we looked for information about this event on Tata Trusts’ website but found that it did not mention Engineer Rashid.
- However, the home page carried a clarification, which distanced itself from the event.
- It read that Tata Trusts had “no association with either the event(s) or the Award or its organizers in any form,” and that they had served a legal notice to Delhi Today Group’s founder Rajat Srivastava on 13 December, “asking him to cease and desist from using the Tata Trusts brand name and/or the name of our late Chairman, Shri Ratan N. Tata, for these events.”
- The statement was also shared on their social media accounts.
- Conclusion: A false claim about a Tata Trusts-funded event honouring Engineer Rashid with an award has gone viral on social media.
- (The news story is being republished from The Quint as part of the Shakti Collective)
