Recently, two images were circulated by a supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement. These images depict that the President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, allegedly posed in front of a wall featuring the phrase “Khalistan Zindabad”. These images were shared during Mr Banga’s highly publicised visit to Pakistan.
The user posted this image with a caption that says, “Viral Buzz: World Bank President’s Ancestral Ties in Pakistan Captivate the Internet”.
FactCheck
The DFRAC team examined the images and concluded that they were edited. No verified news outlet has reported that Mr Banga expressed any support for the Khalistan movement during his visit. By performing a reverse image search on the first image, we found the original photo posted by a user on Instagram. This person was presenting a plaque that contains the names of Mr Banga’s maternal grandfather, Sardar Kartar Singh, and paternal grandfather, Sardar Ishar Singh.
In the second image, we discovered that it was a key frame from a video published by the official Facebook channel of the Sindh Chief Minister. In this video, Mr Banga was engaged in conversation with women in Larkano.
Both original images of World Bank President Ajay Banga clearly demonstrate that the images used to falsely portray him as a supporter of Khalistan have been manipulated. Further analysis using FotoForensics confirmed that the “Khalistan Zindabad” banner was added to the second image.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the images claiming that World Bank Group President Ajay Banga posed in front of “Khalistan Zindabad” writings are indeed edited. The original images do not indicate any association with the Khalistan movement.
