Amidst the third week of the farmers’ protests, a photo of former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at a Gurudwara has gone viral claiming that it was taken during the ongoing farmers’ protests.
A Facebook user posted with a caption: “किसान एकता जिंदाबाद (English Translation: Long live farmer unity!)”
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim, and found it to be false.
Running a Reverse Image Search on the viral image, our NM team found the same picture in an Instagram post, dated July 17, 2022, with the caption “Bowled over with the legendary @mahi7781“. According to the geotag on the Instagram post, the image was taken at the Central Gurudwara Khalsa Jatha in London.
We also found a tweet on an X account with a photo similar to the viral one, featuring him with Dhoni, shared on October 1, 2022. The post read: “I met MS Dhoni a couple of months ago at the Gurdwara @khalsajatha in London and noticed he was calm, at one with himself and able to absorb the spiritual moment. It’s that inner calmness that gives fortitude in situations which may stress many others out.”
Upon comparing this photo with the viral one, we observed numerous similarities, such as their attire and the red head-covering worn by Dhoni.
We also searched for media coverage of Dhoni’s visit to England in 2022 and discovered numerous reports of the cricketer exploring the streets of London during that period. According to these reports, Dhoni also attended India’s second ODI of the series against England at Lord’s on July 14, 2022.
Subsequently, we examined Dhoni’s social media accounts and various media sources to determine if he had recently visited any Gurudwara. However, we found no credible media reports to substantiate the viral claim.
Hence, we can conclusively say that a two-year-old picture of Dhoni’s visit to a London gurudwara was falsely shared as a recent incident amid the ongoing farmers’ protests.
