A set of photos, two from Maldives and one from French Polynesia are viral on social media and were shared by Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh and Cabinet Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju, falsely claiming that they are from Lakshadweep, India.
On January 7, 2024, the Maldives government of President Mohamed Muizzu suspended three ministers for making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indians. The three ministers had criticised PM Modi for his post on X (formerly Twitter) over his visit to Lakshadweep, inferring that it was an attempt to project it as an alternative tourist destination for Indians, instead of going to the Maldives.
Soon after the controversy broke out several Indian celebrities including Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar and former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar posted on X encouraging people to visit Indian tourist destinations.
Ranveer Singh posted a photo on X of an archipelago of three islands with the caption, "This year let’s make 2024 about exploring India and experiencing our culture. There is so much to see and explore across the beaches and the beauty of our country. Chalo India let’s #exploreindianislands Chalo bharat dekhe".
Singh later deleted his post after several people pointed out that the photo was not from India.
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Cabinet Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju, also posted two photos, one of a tourist seated inside an orange kayaks near an island, and another of a tourist snorkelling in shallow water near an island, with the caption, "#ExploreIndianIslands #Lakshdweep #DekhoApnaDesh #IncredibleIndia"
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation posted by Rijiju.
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that all three photos that are going viral which were posted by Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh and Cabinet Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju, are not from India. Two photos are from Maldives, while one is from French Polynesia
Taking a hint from replies calling out both Singh and Rijiju for posting photos that are not from India, we ran a reverse image on all three of them and the search results showed the same.
Photo 1
A reverse image search on the photo posted by Singh, showed that it was the stock photo website Shutterstock and the caption stated that it is from Maldives.
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We also found the same location photo that was posted on Instagram by the handle 'asad.photo', whose bio states that he is a photographer. Asad had posted the photo in April 2016, and has been posting photos from Maldives on his handle.
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Photo 2 and 3
On running a reverse image search on both the photos posted by Rijiju, we found that one was from Maldives and the other one from Bora Bora island in French Polynesia.
The photo of a tourist kayaking was posted on X back in 2015 stating it is from the Maldives.
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We also found a Facebook post from May 2015, posted by a Maldives resort with the caption, "Kayak Paddle yourself around the tranquil water of Holiday Inn Resort® Kandooma Maldives in one of our kayaks. No fancy technology, just your own power!!"
We also ran a reverse image search on Tin Eye, which search results showed us website links with the photo dating back to 2013.
However, as these are not reliable news websites or stock photo sites, BOOM could not independently establish when the photo was taken.
Photo 3
Taking a hint from the replies stating that the photo of a person snorkeling is not from India, but from Bora Bora island, we ran a keyword search and found the photo was uploaded on the stock photo website Alamy on July 10, 2012.
The caption mentions that the location of the photo from Bora Bora, French Polynesia.
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