No, Ashok Gehlot was not waving Pakistan's flag as claimed on social media - Alt News
Jignesh Patel
29th November 2018 / 11:22 pm / Last updated: 19th March 2019
A video of Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has gone viral on social media. An individual user on Facebook has shared with the caption, “सामने पाकिस्तान का झंडा लहराया जा रहा हैं और मंच पर गहलोत हरा झंडा फ़हरा रहें हैं (Pakistan’s flag is waved in the front and Gehlot is waving a green flag on the stage -translated). This post has been shared more than 1600 times and viewed in excess of 17000 times already.
Mahesh Vikram Hegde, the founder of fake news website Postcard News also tweeted the same video.
Several social media users have shared this video with the identical narrative. Another post by one Anil Sharma claims that Pakistan’s national flag can be seen on the dais where Gehlot is present. It is based on a screengrab of Ashok Gehlot with a highlighted green flag in the background. This Facebook post has been shared close to 2900 times.
If you look closely, both the claims are based on the flag which is NOT the Pakistani national flag. In the images, the green flag with a crescent moon is a generic flag. It is used as a religious symbol by the Muslim community in the subcontinent. In the comparison given below, Pakistan’s national flag with a white patch on the left side can be seen.
The pictures depicted in the above Facebook posts are representative of this religious banner and NOT Pakistan’s national flag.
Drramgopal Varshney, a Facebook user also posted a claim that the Pakistani flag was waved at a Congress rally. It has been shared more than 1400 times.
In the past as well, this green coloured flag has been falsely represented as Pakistan’s national flag on social media to further a political agenda.
Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.
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