Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Claim
Photo of Sydney Opera House lit up with the Indian tricolour to mark PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Australia.
The archived versions of the tweets can be seen here and here.
Also read: ‘Anti-Hindu’ Elements Vandalise Idols At Tiruppur Temple? Here’s The Truth Behind Viral Posts
Fact
Newschecker ran a keyword search for “Sydney Opera House India”, which led us to multiple tweets, published in August 2022, featuring the same photo. They can be seen here, and here, stating that the iconic Sydney Opera House was lit up with the colours of the Indian flag to celebrate India’s 75 years of Independence on August 15, 2022. News reports on the event can be seen here and here.
We, however, also came across news reports stating that Australia’s iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House were illuminated with the Indian tricolour when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the historic landmarks on Wednesday with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
The sails were reportedly lit in a show of respect as Modi concluded his three-day visit to the country after almost a decade. He last visited Australia in 2014. “The last time the sails of the Opera House were lit in the tricolour was to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Indian Independence in August last year,” read a News18 report, dated May 24.
According to Sky News Australia, Albanese said, “One of the things about lighting up the Opera House is that it projects our image to the world…It will mean that there is coverage… There are 1.4 billion reasons why we want the Indian flag on the Opera House, because it is the largest population in the world. Two thirds of those 1.4 billion people are under the age of 35. We want a relationship with them. We want them to come to Australia, to bring their dollars, to create jobs and create that economic activity in the tourism sector.”
The photos of the lit-up Sydney Opera House across the recent news reports are, however, unlike the viral image, further confirming that it was an old picture that has gone viral.
We also came across this 9News report, dated May 24, 2023, featuring a photo of the lit-up Sydney Opera House with the caption, “The Sydney Opera House sails were lit up in August 2022 for the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence day.”
Also read: PM Narendra Modi ‘Ignored’ By G7 Summit Leaders? No, Clipped Video Shared Out Of Context
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Tweet by Sidhant Sibal, August 15, 2022
CNBC-TV18 report, May 24, 2023
Sky News Australia report, May 24, 2023
9News report, May 24, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
