Viral image of Indian flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar fake or real?

New Delhi: As India celebrated its 74th Independence Day on Saturday, an image of Srinagar’s nerve centre, Lal Chowk, is being widely shared on social media and is now a viral sensation.

The picture shows the Indian national flag flying atop the Clock Tower in Lal Chowk. The picture was shared by BJP leader Kapil Mishra and Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, among many others. Each of them credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah for the development.

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While Mishra wrote, “Tiranga at Lal Chowk,” Namgyal gave a whole explanation in the micro-blogging site. He wrote, “What has changed since #5Aug2019? Lal Chowk #Srinagar which had remained as symbol of #AntiIndia campaign by dynast politicians & #Jihadist forces, has now become Crown of Nationalism. #modihaitomumkinhai Thanks my countrymen for electing @narendramodi @AmitShah #ModiSarkar.”

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However, this image is fake, it’s morphed. A deep dive on Google helped us to find a blogpost by Mubasshir Mushtaq. He identifies himself as a freelance journalist and he took the photo on Jun 22, 2010. Additionally, he used the image in his story titled ‘Paradise Lost?’ in 2010. One can clearly see that the original image shows no Indian flag and the other elements in the photo remain the same.

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A cross-reference with an updated picture of the Clock Tower in Lal Chowk shows that the building on the side of the tower had completed its construction.

This amply proves that the picture of the Indian flag flying atop Clock Tower in Lal Chowk of Kashmir during the 74th Independence Day celebration this year is fake.