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| - Fact Check: Who's this man disrespecting the Indian national flag?
A false claim has been doing the rounds on social media that a Pakistan politician, Haroon Bilour, disrespected the Tricolour by wrapping it around his shoe.
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India Today Fact Check
The man in the picture was Siraj Raisani, a leader of Balochistan Awami Party. Raisani was among over 130 people killed in a 2018 suicide attack in Balochistan. Haroon Bilour of Pakistan’s Awami National Party was also killed in a suicide attack in the same year in Peshawar.
A disturbing image of a man sitting with the Indian Tricolour wrapped around his shoe is circulating on social media. Netizens claim he is Pakistan politician Haroon Bilour who was later killed in a bomb blast.
Several Twitter and Facebook users shared the picture with a caption in Hindi, which translates to, “He’d wrapped the Tiranga around his feet. Pakistan Lok Sabha constituency number 74 candidate Haroon Bilour blown away in an explosion by terrorists.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the man in the picture was Siraj Raisani, a leader of Balochistan Awami Party, known for his stringent anti-India views. Raisani was among over 130 people killed in 2018 in a suicide attack in Balochistan.
On the other hand, Haroon Bilour of Pakistan’s Awami National Party was also killed in a suicide bomb attack in the same year in Peshawar.
The archived versions of the posts are saved here and here.
AFWA probe
Using reverse image and keyword search, we found from several articles hat the viral picture had created a controversy between India and Pakistan in 2018.
Major General Asif Ghafoor former spokesperson of the Pakistan army, had shared the photo on Twitter, along with another picture where the same man was seen standing on the Indian national flag.
The caption of his tweet read, Salute to our national hero #SirajRaisani. A truly proud Pakistani who made enemies of Pakistan afraid. Your passion, mission & message shall be carried forward. We owe you, and we shall not let your sacrifice go waste. Welcome to the great family of ‘Martyred sons of Pakistan’.”
Social media users from India were quick to criticise Ghafoor for sharing the pictures.
As per news reports, Balochistan Awami Party leader Siraj Raisani was among the over 130 people killed in a suicide blast by the Islamic State in Balochistan’s Mastung in July 2018.
Haroon Bilour , an Awami National Party leader, was among more than 20 people killed in another suicide blast at a party rally in Peshawar in the same month.
Both attacks took place days before the general elections were scheduled in Pakistan on July 25, 2018.
So, it is clear that the man disrespecting the Indian flag was Siraj Raisani, an anti-India Baloch leader in Pakistan. He was killed in a suicide blast three years back.
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