By Abhishek Anand
Copyright thequint
An image of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh shaking hands with Pakistani cricketers is being shared on the internet to claim that it was taken shortly after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.Those sharing the photo have captioned it saying, “The Pakistan cricket team arrived in India shortly after the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was present to welcome the Pakistan cricket team. Sharad Pawar is also seen with him.”(More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)What are the facts?: The image shows Singh meeting Pakistani cricketers during the 2011 World Cup semi-final match between India and Pakistan in Punjab’s Mohali. This makes the claim misleading.Were These Punjabi Youths Sold to Russia by Indian Govt? No, Claim Is False!Hints in the viral image: On zooming into it, we noticed that the jersey worn by former cricketer Shahid Afridi showed the logo of the 2011 ICC World Cup. One can also spot “2011” written on the jersey.Finding the older version: Team WebQoof conducted a simple Google Lens search on the image and found the same visual uploaded on stock image website named ‘Wikimedia Commons’.Its caption said, “The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Yousuf Raza Gilani interacting with the Pakistani Cricket Team at the Indo-Pak World Cup semi-final, at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium, in Mohali on March 30, 2011.”Other sources: Times Now, too, had shared visuals on their official YouTube channel that showed Pakistani cricketers meeting Singh on 30 March 2011.It was titled, “Meeting for friendship and cricket”Conclusion: Evidently, the image is from 2011 and does not show a visual taken shortly after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.Fake Circular Viral as Last Date of Filing ITR Extended to 30 September(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we’ll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)
