Authors
An image of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Amit Shah and President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Asaduddin Owaisi, sitting together has been circulating on social media platforms.
An archive version of this claim can be viewed here.
Other users have also shared this image on Twitter.
Also Read: Old Video Of Amit Shah Falling Revived Amid Bengal’s State Assembly Rally
Fact Check / Verification
We began with a Google reverse image search of the photograph in context. But this did not yield to any results.
Next with the help of relevant keywords we found an image of Amit Shah with Punjab’s CM Amarinder Singh in a December ‘20 news report by Aaj Tak. The two politicians had met to discuss issues related to the farmers’ protest and the three new farm bills introduced by the Central government late-last year.
The image in the Aaj Tak report shows Amit Shah sitting in front of Captain Amarinder in the same position and attire as seen in the viral picture with AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi.
On comparing these two images, we found a few similarities which can be seen below. This confirmed suspicions of the viral image of Shah with Owaisi being edited.
Continuing our research, we found another image from 2018 of Asaduddin Owaisi and with Akbaruddin Owaisi, which looked similar to the viral picture. This image was posted with a caption which reads, “AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi along with Akbaruddin Owaisi met P.S @arvindkumar_ias & @CommissionrGHMC and given memorandum for construction of new bridges adjacent to Nayapul to accommodate street vendors and hawkers of surroundings of Charminar.”
Additionally, we also found the image of Owaisis’ in an article published by The News Minute in February 2018. The photograph was taken when Asaduddin Owaisi visited the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) commissioner to discuss the construction of a new bridge over the Musi river, reported News Minute.
You can read about this claim in our Hindi fact-check as well.
Conclusion
Our research makes it clear that the viral image of Amit Shah sitting with AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi is edited. An old photograph of Shah meeting with Punjab’s CM Amarinder Singh and another image of Owaisi at a three-year-old meeting have been edited to create this new viral image to mislead readers amid upcoming State elections.
Result: Manipulated Media
Our Sources:
2018 Twitter post: https://twitter.com/syedsulaiman92/status/968498548290531329
The News Minute: https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/build-bridges-across-river-musi-hawkers-displaced-charminar-hyd-mp-owaisi-77161
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