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This image of a rally in Pakistan has been doctored to digitally insert an Indian flag
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on November 3, 2020 at 10:25
- 2 min read
- By AFP India
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The image was published on Facebook here on October 22, 2020.
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The text in the image translates to English as: “For 70 years we were teased by the Pakistan national flag, yesterday at a rally in Karachi, an Indian national flag was raised. Victory to mother India.”
The post’s caption translated as: “Hail Mother India / Hail India”
The image was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here, here, here and here; and by two politicians of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party here and here.
The image, however, has been doctored.
A reverse image search on Google found that the original photo shows no Indian flag raised in the crowd. The photo was published by Pakistani English-language newspaper Dawn here on October 19, 2020.
The photo is attributed to Dawn and is captioned: “Supporters of opposition parties gather at Bagh-i-Jinnah in Karachi for PDM’s second rally.”
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PDM, an acronym for Pakistan Democratic Movement, is a coalition of opposition political parties united against the ruling government Prime Minister Imran Khan. The photo shows PDM supporters gathering on October 18, 2020, for a rally in Bagh-i-Jinnah, a historic park in Karachi.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image shared in the misleading post (L) and the original Dawn photo (R):
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Similar photos from the rally were also published on Twitter here on the official account of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), a PDM political party, and here by the party’s chief, Maryam Nawaz.
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