The image has been doctored to change the actress’ original comments

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 20, 2021 at 09:30
2 min read
By Wasi MIRZA, AFP Pakistan

An image showing a news photo of a Pakistani actress alongside her purported “quote” about supporting homosexuality while not caring “what Quran says” has been shared hundreds of times in multiple social media posts in March 2020. The claim is misleading: the original image from the media outlet has been altered to include the fabricated “quote” about the Quran. The actress, Mehar Bano, has previously expressed support for homosexual rights in Pakistan but never made such claim about the Muslim holy book.

The image was posted here on Facebook on March 13, 2021.

The superimposed text at the top of the image is an Urdu-language transliteration in English that reads: “if the Antichrist’s temptation had a face”.

A logo of the Pakistan Tribune, a local media outlet, can be seen on the top left of the profile image.

Screenshot of the Misleading post on Facebook. Taken on March 15, 2021.

The profile image features Pakistani actress Mehar Bano, who has drawn severe criticism from the netizens and has her Instagram account suspended due to her stance on supporting homosexuality, as reported by local newspaper Daily Pakistan.

The image was shared a few days after a series of rallies organized by women’s rights groups celebrating International Women’s Day in Pakistan were met with a “vicious smear campaign”, AFP reported here.

The image has also been shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here; on Instagram here and here; and on Twitter here, here and here.

The image, however, is misleading. The original image from the Pakistan Tribune has been altered to include the fabricated “quote” about the Quran.

A reverse image search on Google found the original image posted on the Pakistan Tribune’s Facebook page here on March 11, 2021. The original quote on the image reads: “I Support HomoSexuality and There is Nothing Wrong in it.”

Below is a comparison between the original image posted by Pakistan Tribune (L) and the one with the altered comments (R):

Screenshot comparing the original post from Pakistan Tribune (L) and the one with the altered comments (R). Taken on March 15, 2021.

The Pakistan Tribune has also stated that the image has been altered in a Facebook post published on March 13, 2021. “‘I don’t care about Quran’ line is completely fake and concocted” reads their post on Facebook.

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