This is not a photo of Sri Lankan Muslims -- it was taken in Afghanistan in 2009
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 26, 2019 at 11:45
- Updated on April 29, 2019 at 09:08
- 2 min read
- By AFP Sri Lanka
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The posts, for example this one which has been shared more than 14,000 times since it was posted April 22, 2019, contains a photo of five women in burqas holding their identity cards in their hands.
The post’s caption says in Sinhalese: “We can’t go to an ATM wearing a cap, but these people are roaming the entire country wearing these sacks.”
The Sinhalese text across the bottom of the image says: “Devils, at least now ban these sacks. They give every ‘game’ using this attire.”
The post was uploaded one day after a series of attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday left more than 250 people dead. Here is an AFP report on the bombings.
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
Multiple comments on the post indicated that Facebook users believed the photo showed the situation in Sri Lanka.
“I don’t want to be crazy. Let’s ban this after a lot of sinhala people died,” one user wrote.
“Why’s hiding behind that this’s not respect for the rest of people living in Sri Lanka,” another user commented.
A reverse image search on Google led to this AFP photo from 2009 Afghanistan Presidential elections.
Below is a screenshot of photo on AFP’s Image Forum website:
The photograph was taken on August 20, 2009 by AFP photographer Banaras Khan.
The post’s caption says: “Burqa-clad Afghan women show identification cards as they wait to cast their votes at a school converted to a polling centre in Kandahar on August 20, 2009. Polling stations opened for the second ever presidential elections in Afghanistan, held under tight security amid Taliban threats to disrupt voting.”
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