A series of photos showing former Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) minister Bikram Singh Majithia at the Golden Temple in Amritsar has gone viral with a claim that the leader was seen paying obeisance on 1 January 2022.
Several media organisation, too, shared the images of the former minister who was recently booked under sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act for allegedly allowing drug smuggling through use of his property or conveyance.
However, we found that the photos were taken on 1 January 2021. These photos were posted on Majithia's verified Facebook page one year ago at the Golden temple.
CLAIM
The photos were first posted on Facebook by Youth Akali Dal on 1 January with a caption, when roughly translated from Punjabi to English reads, "I am blessed when I come to your doorsteps." Majithia is the president of SAD's Youth Wing, Youth Akali Dal.
The post didn't mention if the photographs were recent or old. However, social media users and news organisations shared the images claiming that it showed Majithia at the Golden Temple on News Years' day.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
Media organisations like Aaj Tak, News24, India TV, Times Now, and Amar Ujala shared the claim.
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We conducted a keyword search for the words "Majithia", "Golden Temple" and "Darbar Sahib" in Punjabi and found a post on Majithia's official Facebook page from 1 January 2021 that carried two of the viral images.
An archived version of the photographs can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
We also found the photos posted on Punjabi newspaper Rozana Spokesman's Facebook page on the same date.
- 01/02
Comparison of viral photos with the images posted last year.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
- 02/02
Comparison of viral photos with the images posted last year.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
We also found a news clip on Punjab news channel PTC News Facebook page that talked about Majithia's visit to the Golden Temple along with SAD leader Sukhbir Singh Badal.
People seen in the viral video were also seen in the PTC News clip and Majithia was wearing the same clothes as in the viral photographs.
Comparison of viral photos with the images posted last year.
(Photo: Altered by The Quint)
It is, however, important to note that a SAD member and a police officer told The Indian Express that Majithia did indeed visit the Golden temple on the intervening night of 31 December 2021 and 1 January.
While we were unable to confirm if he did visit the Golden temple recently, the viral photographs of Bikram Singh Majithia's visit to holy shrine are old.
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