This image has been doctored to include an animal corpse on a prayer plate next to an Indian minister

This article is more than one year old.
Published on August 21, 2020 at 10:45
Updated on August 25, 2020 at 10:54
2 min read
By AFP India

An image has been shared thousands of times in multiple posts on Facebook and Twitter which claim it shows an Indian minister sitting next to an animal corpse on a prayer plate, violating Hindu traditions. The claim is false; the image has been doctored to include a photo of a corpse.

The photo was published here on Facebook on August 2, 2020. It has been shared more than 2,700 times.

A screenshot, taken on August 20, 2020, of the misleading post.

The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “Someone tell me what should I write...what is that on the plate and what is going on?”

The image shows Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath worshipping next to a roasted pig on a prayer plate.

Gorakhnath, the Hindu tradition that Adiyanath follows, prohibits worshiping with meat.

The photo was also shared here, here, here, here and here on Facebook and here and here on Twitter, alongside a similar claim.

The claim, however, is false.

A reverse image search on Google found a similar photo published here on Twitter by Vijaita Singha, a journalist at Indian newspaper The Hindu, on July 27, 2020.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the misleading image (L) and the photo shared by the journalist (R):

A screenshot comparison of the misleading image and the photo from the journalist, the doctored area is circled in blue by AFP.

The post’s caption reads: “In Uttar Pradesh, a cop at the feet of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ajay Singh Bisht [Yogi Adityanath].”

The tweet includes two other photos that show a police officer in uniform visiting the Chief Minister on Guru Purnima, a traditional Hindu festival.

The police officer was criticised for kneeling down before the chief minister in uniform, as reported here by local news magazine Outlook and here by local television media company NDTV on July 28, 2020.

UPDATE: This article was updated on August 25 to correct a repetition in the summary.

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