An old photo showing a Sikh man offering namaz is being shared with a false claim that he is a Muslim impersonating a Sikh and that he forgot to remove his turban after attending the ongoing farmers' protest.
BOOM found that the viral photo dates back to 2016 and is not recent as being falsely claimed. In the viral photo, a man in a turban can be seen sitting along with Muslims at a mosque.
The viral image is being shared in the backdrop of the ongoing protest at different borders of Delhi which has seen farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh camping there since November 26, 2020. The farmers have been demanding the repeal of three farm bills passed by the central government last year.
The viral photo was tweeted by Harinder S Sikka with the false and communal claim that read, "He went to attend 'Kissan Rally', forgot to remove his head gear on return to mosque.His agenda could be anything but their welfare. Pls help in sharing this pic. In the name of Farmer's Bill we've Jihadi,communists & traitors washing their dirty linen @narendramodi @AmitShah."
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
Viral on Facebook
On searching with the same caption on Facebook, we found that the viral photo is being shared with the false claim.
Click here to view, and here for an archive.
Also Read: 2017 Pics Of Defaced NH Signboards In Punjab Viral With Farmers' Protest Twist
FACT-CHECK
On performing a revers image search using Google Images, we found that the viral photo dates back to 2016 and is not recent as being falsely claimed.
We found a screenshot of a Facebook post with the same viral photo on a website. The Facebook post dated January 31, 2016, had posted the photo with the caption that read, "This Sikh man entered the mosque on the day of Jumm'ah, performed wudhu, and amazingly said "Allahu Akbar" and prayed in front of everyone. May Allah spread this beautiful religion across the world."
We also found that the photo was shared by several other Facebook pages in January 2016.
BOOM could not independently verify the incident, however, we could establish that the viral photo dates back to 2016 and is not recent or related to the farmers' protests.
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation around the farmers' protests with protesters being targeted with fake news and old photos and videos being shared as recent.
Follow BOOM's thread on misinformation around the farmers' protests.
