A picture showing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wearing a saffron scarf with Om written over it, is being shared on internet with captions falsely claiming that he wore the scarf at his swearing-in ceremony.
BOOM found that the viral photo is from a programme held by the Hindu Council in Parramatta in Australia.
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Albanese is the leader of Australia's Labor Party. He was sworn in as the country's 31st prime minister on May 23, 2022. The viral picture is being shared against this backdrop.
The picture shows Albanese standing on a dais wearing a saffron scarf. The captions with several posts shared on social media suggest that the picture was clicked at the Australian PM's swearing-in ceremony.
A Hindi caption with the viral post translates to 'Fountain lovers, this is Australia's new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who wore a saffron scarf with Om written over it while taking oath. He likes the true religion Sanatan dharma which believes in serving humanity. Now don't say this is a ploy of RSS and Modi'.
(Hindi: फव्वारा वालों ये हैं ऑस्ट्रेलिया के नए प्रधानमंत्री एंथनी अल्बनीज जिन्होंने शपथ लेते समय ॐ लिखा हुआ भगवा डाला है इन्हें मानवता की सेवा करने वाला सच्चा धर्म सनातन धर्म पसन्द है अब ये मत कहना ये मोदी और RSS की चाल है।)
View the post here. Other posts with similar captions can be seen here and here.
Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search on the viral picture and found a report published in abc news on May 19, 2022 carrying the same image.
The report also carried the pictures of then Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny donning similar saffron scarves.
The report, published days before the results of the Australian elections were declared, states that then opposition leader Anthony Albanese had appeared at an event organised by the Hindu Council of Australia (HCA) wearing saffron scarf with Om printed on it. Then Prime Minister Scott Morrison had also attended a similar event.
We also found a May 6 tweet from the verified twitter handle of Albanese sharing pictures of him in a similar saffron scarf. The tweet reads 'A warm reception in Parramatta tonight with leaders from the Hindu faith and subcontinental communities.'
Albanese has tagged the Twitter handle of Hindu Council of Australia in the tweet. According to the website of HCA, it is 'a peak body organisation founded in 1998 with an aim to create a strong and unified Hindu community in Australia'.
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BOOM also checked video footage from Albanese' swearing-in ceremony. We did not find him wearing any saffron scarf during the event.
A tweet from Albanese' verified Twitter handle also shows him not donning a saffron scarf.
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