Shopian, July 10: A bizarre claim has gone viral on social media, alleging that a teenage boy in South Kashmir’s Shopian district sold his neighbour’s cow to buy a gift for his girlfriend. Shared widely across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, the story was framed with catchy captions and meme-style visuals that played into popular stereotypes and emotions, a strategy increasingly used by engagement farmers to draw likes, shares, and clicks.
However, upon verification, The Kashmiriyat found the claim to be completely fabricated. The news has not been reported in any official channel, nor has any complaint been filed in any police station in the Shopian district.
“There is no report of any such incident having taken place anywhere. This is fabricated news, and people should stop sharing such news,” a police official told The Kashmiriyat.
Social media platforms are increasingly being used to push sensationalist and unverified content for quick engagement, often without regard for truth or consequences. A local journalist, Mubashir Hussain, who has worked extensively in Kashmir, expressed concern about this trend. “Such news finds widespread likes and shares and is mostly shared by social media engagement farmers who have nothing to do with the news and hardly even read any,” he said. “They have no understanding of how the industry works on facts and think Facebook pages spreading sensationalism is news.”
Officials from multiple areas in Shopian were contacted by The Kashmiriyat to cross-check the claim. None had heard of any such incident, and all denied that any complaint had been filed in their jurisdiction.
“This is how rumours start. Someone writes something outrageous as a joke or for clicks, and others run with it as if it’s verified news,” said a Shopian resident who first saw the claim in a WhatsApp group. “It spreads because people don’t stop to question where it’s coming from.”
This incident is part of a larger problem facing the information ecosystem in Kashmir and across India: misinformation dressed as humour or gossip. Stories like these are especially dangerous in conflict-sensitive regions, where disinformation can quickly spiral into communal tension or public panic.
Police and civil society groups have repeatedly urged the public to verify content before sharing and to rely only on trustworthy sources for news. Yet, with viral posts often outperforming fact-based reports in reach and engagement, tackling misinformation remains a formidable challenge.
The fabricated Shopian cow story may seem harmless or humorous to some, but it reveals a troubling disregard for factual accuracy and the ease with which falsehoods can penetrate public consciousness in the age of social media.