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| - Fact Check: Kejriwal did not begin New Year 2021 by offering namaz at Jama Masjid
A photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wearing a skull cap has gone viral with a claim that the CM ushered in the New Year by offering a namaz at the Jama Masjid in Delhi. How true is the claim? Find out!
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India Today Fact Check
This image of Kejriwal offering namaz is four-years-old. He offered prayers along with devotees before breaking a roza during the holy month of Ramzan at Malerkotla in Sangrur, Punjab on July 4, 2016.
A photo of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wearing a skull cap has gone viral with a claim that the CM ushered in the New Year by offering a namaz at the Jama Masjid in Delhi.
Multiple people on Facebook and Twitter shared the image with a caption in Hindi that translates to, "Big news: On the first day of the new year, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal offered namaz at Jama Masjid and prayed for Delhi and the country."
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the viral claim is misleading. The image of Kejriwal offering namaz is four-years-old. Kejriwal was captured offering prayers along with devotees before breaking the Roza during the holy month of Ramzan at Malerkotla in Punjab on July 4, 2016.
The archived versions of the posts are saved here, here, and here.
AFWA PROBE
With the help of reverse image search, we found the same photo of Kejriwal published in the Hindi news website Jansatta in 2016. The same photo, albeit a wider one which includes AAP leader Sanjay Singh sitting beside Kejriwal, was published in Jagran in the same year.
Taking a cue from the Jansatta article according to which the image was posted by the Twitter handle of AAP Punjab during Eid 2016, we found the old tweet with the help of an advanced tweet search. The Twitter handle of AAP Punjab had posted the viral image of Kejriwal offering namaz on July 7, 2016, wishing Eid in the Punjabi language.
But neither the newspaper reports nor the tweet posted by AAP could throw light on where picture, its location or the event.
With the help of keyword search, we found the viral image along with other images taken from different angles from the photo gallery of HTDS content services and Getty Images. Both the websites credited the picture to photographer Bharat Bhushan of Hindustan Times.
The Getty Image caption of the photograph reads, "Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in skull cap offers prayers with devotees before breaking the Roza on the Holy Month of Ramzan at Malerkotla in Sangrur on July 4, 2016, in Patiala, India."
We found that the viral post has originated from a Twitter account called "LowBPNews" who on their Twitter bio declared that their posts are far from the truth.
However, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal through a video message greeted people on the New Year's Day and cautioned them to follow Covid-19 precautions for prevention of the disease.
Thus, it is clear that the viral claim that Delhi CM has offered namaz at Jama Masjid on the first day of the New Year is false. The photograph of Kejriwal offering prayers is four-years-old.
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