“हिंदुओं को मुसलमानों के खिलाफ भड़काने वाले कट्टर हिन्दू नेता सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी हैदराबाद एअरपोर्ट पर अपनी सगी बेटी और नवासी को हज पर रवाना करते हुए । लेकिन इससे आपको क्या आप तो अपना हिन्दू मूस्लिम जारी रखो। Staunch Hindu leader Subramanian Swamy, who instigates Hindus against Muslims is seeing off his own daughter and granddaughter to Haj on Hyderabad airport. But how does it matter, you carry on with your Hindu-Muslim -translated)” was posted by a Facebook user Chandan Pratihast on June 25, 2018. The post has been shared more than 19000 times and ‘liked’ more than 2500 times so far. The image shared by the account describes the women in the photo flanking Subramanian Swamy as her daughter and granddaughter. The post calls out the supposed hypocrisy of Swamy who has often taken a hardline position on sensitive issues.

हिंदुओं को मुसलमानों के खिलाफ भड़काने वाले कट्टर हिन्दू नेता सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी हैदराबाद एअरपोर्ट पर अपनी सगी बेटी और नवासी को हज पर रवाना करते हुए । लेकिन इससे आपको क्या आप तो अपना हिन्दू मूस्लिम जारी रखो । 👇

Posted by Chandan Pratihast on Sunday, 24 June 2018

It has also been shared on Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, the post from a page named Aam Admi Zindabad(आम आदमी जिंदाबाद) has been shared more than 3900 times.

हिंदुओं को मुसलमानों के खिलाफ भड़काने वाले कट्टर हिन्दू नेता सुब्रमण्यम स्वामी हैदराबाद एअरपोर्ट पर अपनी सगी बेटी और नवासी को हज पर रवाना करते हुए । लेकिन इससे आपको क्या आप तो अपना हिन्दू मूस्लिम जारी रखो । 👇

Posted by Aam Admi Zindabad(आम आदमी जिंदाबाद) on Sunday, 24 June 2018

What is the truth?

Doing a reverse image search on Google throws up a list of tweets, out of which Jagdish Shetty’s tweet on May 4, 2018, was the one of the earliest on social media platforms.

To find out more about the photograph, Alt News contacted Shetty who said, “I had clicked the picture myself. These are the women who wanted a picture with Subramanian Swamy when he was rushing at the airport.” The women in the photograph are NOT his daughter and granddaughter as claimed.

Subramanian Swamy was indeed present in Bengaluru on May 4, 2018, for a Times Now debate during the Karnataka Assembly election.

Political leaders are popular targets for mischief mongers on social media who often resort to distortion and misrepresentation of the surrounding narrative. Swamy is simply the latest victim of this tendency.

About the Author

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.