An old black and white photo showing Hindu Mahasabha president Vinayak Damodar Savarkar meeting with senior British minister Stafford Cripps during his visit to India in March 1942 heading the Cripps Mission, is being shared with the false claim that it shows Savakar shaking hands with the founder of Pakistan - Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The Cripps Mission in March 1942 was a failed attempt by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II. Under the mission, Cripps visited India and met with various political leaders of then undivided India including from the Indian National Congress, Muslim League, and Hindu Mahasabha. Cripps belonged to the left-wing Labour Party, but was also a member of the coalition War Cabinet led by United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill of the Conservative Party.
The viral photo is being shared with the caption when translated reads, "Photo of Mohammad Ali Jinnah welcoming his best friend and architect of Partition Vinayak Damodar Savarkar"
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The same photo has been viral since 2018 with the false claim.
The same photo is being shared with the false claim on Facebook with the same caption.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral photo actually shows Vinayak Damodar Savarkar meeting with British Labour party minister Stafford Cripps who led the Cripss Mission to India.
On running a relevant keyword search we found that the same photo shared by several Twitter users with the photo caption, "Sir Stafford Cripps receiving Veer Savarkar as the head of the Mahasabha Delegation (Delhi March 1942)"
Taking a hint from this, we then searched about the Cripps Mission and checked archival footage of various Indian leaders meeting Cripps in March 1942 in Delhi during his visit.
We found a video on the 1942 Cripps Mission when Cripps met with various Indian leaders in Delhi, and at the 1.34 minutes timestamp Hindu Mahasabha president Vinayak Savarkar can be seen. The black and white archive video was uploaded by Nehru Memorial Museum and Library on YouTube in October 2013 with the caption, "Cripps Mission, 1942"
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Additionally, we can see Cripps in this video wearing the same outfit and matching the man in the viral photo meeting Savarkar.
Savarkar meeting Cripps photo published in 'Savarakar and His Times (1950)' book
We also found the same viral photo of Savarkar meeting Cripps in March 1942 published in the book 'Savarakar and His Times (1950)' written by Dhananjay Keer.
On viewing the book 'Savarkar and His Times (1950)' on Archive.org, we found the same photo between page number 260 to 261. The photo of Savarkar meeting Cripps is published with the caption of the photo reading, 'Savarkar and Cripps'.
Below another photo of Savarkar as part of the Hindu Mahasabha delegation meeting the Congress delegation is also published with the caption, "At the time of Cripps Mission, the Mahasabha delegation meets the Congress delegation".
Savarkar and His Times (1950) book
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A comparison of the viral photo of Savarkar shaking hands with Cripps and the photo published in the 1950 book shows it is the same.
The same viral photo was also recently part of an exhibition by The National Archives of India (NAI), as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav in March 2022.
In a The Hindu article dated March 11, 2022, on the exhibition titled 'Instruments of Accession and Merger: The Journey of Integration', we found the article quoting National Archives Deputy Director Syed Farid Ahmad mentioning the viral photo saying that rare photos and records were on display including, "a photograph of Hindu Mahasabha president V.D. Savarkar meeting Sir Stafford Cripps as part of the Cripps Mission in 1942".
Hindu Mahabasha and Muslim League state coalitions during pre-independent India
The Hindu Mahasabha led by Savarkar and The Muslim League led by Jinnah had run state coalition governments together during pre-independent India including Sindh province and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP).