A photo of a food truck with 'Guru Nanak's Langar, Good Bye Hunger' written over it is viral on social media with captions suggesting that the image shows the members of Sikh community distributing free food in Ukraine in the middle of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis.
BOOM found that the image is old and the captions shared along with it are unrelated.
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The image is viral in the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The photo shows a food truck with Free Food written on the side and Guru Nanak's Langar Good Bye Hunger written on the front.
The picture has been shared by several social media handles with captions suggesting the image is recent and from Ukraine.
Activist Yogita Bhayana posted the photo with a caption reading 'Guru Nanak's lunger Good Bye Hunger in Ukraine'.
(Original Text: यूक्रेन में Guru Nanak's lunger Good Bye Hunger #Ukraine)
Click here to view an archive of the post.
The same picture was shared by Hindi news daily Dainik Bhaskar with a Hindi caption translating to 'Salute to the spirit to serve: Sikhs organise langar at war-torn areas in Ukraine, distribute food in trains'.
(Hindi: सेवा के जज्बे को सलाम:सिखों ने यूक्रेन युद्ध स्थली पर लोगों को भुखमरी से बचाने के लिए लगाए लंगर, ट्रेनों में भी बांट रहे खाना)
Click here for archive of the post.
Another Twitter user shared the same picture with a Hindi caption translating to 'Sikh Community Initiative in Ukraine "Guru Ka Langar"'.
(Hindi: यूक्रेन में सिख समुदाय की पहल "गुरु का लंगर")
Film actor Richa Chadha quoted a tweet carrying the same photo with a caption reading 'So much to learn'.
Click here and here to view an archive of the post.
The photo is also being shared widely on Facebook claiming the same.
Click here to view the post.
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Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search on the photo and found the same image on a Facebook post from November 21, 2016. The caption with the photo reads 'Babe di full full kirpa'.
A keyword search with 'Guru Nanak Dev ji's langar good bye hunger' on Twitter led us to a tweet carrying the same photo shared on November 21, 2016.
Click here to view an archive of the post.
A simultaneous keyword search on Google led us to an article published by a website named Sikh Sewa Society Toronto on August 29, 2016. The headline of the article reads 'Food Truck Opening Ceremony – Brampton'. The article carried photos of a truck similar to the viral image.
Check below a comparison between the viral image and a photo of the truck published in 2016 article.
The "About Us" section of Sikh Sewa Society Toronto's website states 'The mission of Sikh Sewa Society Toronto is to have an open platform for our fellow citizens of all ages, races, cultures, and faiths, with a simple motivation of selfless service for whole humanity. We provide free, nutritious meals to everyone. Our main focus is to serve the poor and homeless population."
We also found a Punjabi news channel PTC's news bulletin on its official YouTube channel uploaded on September 13, 2016 reporting about Sikh Sewa Society Toronto's food truck. The caption with the video reads as, "Canada's first Free Food Truck – Guru Nanak Dev Ji's LANGAR – Goodbye Hunger".
The video can be seen below.
Update: Following the publication of this fact check, Sewa Meals for Humanity - Sikh Sewa Society posted on its social media profiles about the image and clarified that it is not from Ukraine. The organisation said it did not have any active operations outside of Canada.
"The board would like to clarify that our operations service vulnerable communities in the GTA and the organization currently does not have any active operations outside of Canada," the organisation wrote on its Facebook page.
"The team of volunteers at Sikh Sewa Society empathize with the Ukrainian people during this time of crisis and ask that people support organizations that are currently active in providing support to innocent civilians during this trying time," it further added.
The Facebook post can be viewed below.
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