Doctored image falsely claims Indians in Kashmir watched Pakistani cricketer on giant screen

This article is more than one year old.
Published on September 12, 2023 at 11:32
3 min read
By Uzair RIZVI, AFP India

A doctored image of a crowd looking at a big screen has been falsely shared in social media posts that claim it shows people in Indian-administered Kashmir risking the ire of nationalists by intently watching Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam during the Asia Cup. There is widespread anti-India sentiment in the Muslim-majority territory, and police previously launched an investigation after students were filmed celebrating Pakistan beating India at the 2021 World Cup. But the image circulating on social media has been altered from a photo that in fact shows people watching a live broadcast of India's Moon landing on August 23.

“Lal Chowk, picturesque scenery of Kashmir. Everyone was watching King Babar Azam batting,” reads text on the altered image, which was shared by an Instagram account with more than 116,000 followers on August 30, 2023.

It was shared after Pakistan thrashed Nepal in the opening match of cricket's Asia Cup, with captain Babar Azam top-scoring with 151 runs.

Lal Chowk is a square in Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir, where an armed rebellion by Kashmiris in the Muslim-majority territory wanting independence or to be part of Pakistan has raged for decades (archived link).

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the disputed region, and when Pakistan beat India at the 2021 World Cup footage emerged of hundreds of students in Srinagar celebrating and shouting "Love live Pakistan!"

Police launched an investigation into what they described as "anti-national activities".

Screenshot of the altered image shared on Instagram, captured on September 12, 2023

The same doctored image was also shared on Facebook here and here, as well as on X, formerly Twitter, here and here.

Comments on the posts suggest some users believed that a crowd had gathered at Lal Chowk to watch the cricket match.

"They literally risk their lives to celebrate Pakistan's success,” read one comment.

Another said: "This must hurt Indian soldiers."

The image, however, was altered and the original is unrelated to cricket.

Moon landing

A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google led to the same photo that was uploaded on August 24 here on the official X account of the Srinagar police (archived link).

"People at Lal chowk Srinagar today witnessed Live coverage of Chandrayaan-3 Landing on big screen at 'lal chowk square," reads the post's caption.

The landing of the unmanned Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft near the Moon's south pole on August 23 was broadcast live on the official YouTube channel of the Indian Space Research Organisation (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison between the altered image in one of the falsely shared posts (left) and the Srinagar Police post (right):

Screenshot comparison between the altered image in one of the falsely shared posts (left) and the Srinagar Police post (right)

Similar footage of the crowds at Lal Chowk watching the broadcast were shared by local Kashmir media outlets here and here (archived links here and here).

Below is a similar photo of the crowds watching the broadcast taken by an AFP photographer:

Indian paramilitary troopers and tourists watch a live telecast near a clock tower in Srinagar on August 23, 2023 ( AFP / Tauseef MUSTAFA)

The image of Azam used in the false posts was also taken by an AFP photographer and was used in a report about Pakistan's Asia Cup win here (archived link).

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