A photo of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar is being circulated on social media. In this image, a person appears to be disrespecting Dr. Ambedkar statue by showing the middle finger. While sharing this photo, a user named Swami Anand Swaroop wrote, “The British turned out to be shocking traitors. This is how they treat someone who supported them all his life. We strongly condemn this and expect the Bhim Army to file a case against this British person under the SC/ST Act. #Constitution_Maker_BN_Rao.“
Fact Check:
The DFRAC team investigated the viral claim and found that the image is edited. In reality, the photo is from Provo City Library in the United States, where a statue of Brigham Young is installed. According to the Provo Library’s website, the library was established in 1905. Efforts to set up library services in Provo had been made even before 1905. In 1854, there was a collection of 120 volumes for community use.
Additionally, a report by “Big Statues” revealed that another statue was commissioned to be installed at the Provo Library years later. The previous statue created by Big Statues was of Brigham Young, a prominent figure in the state of Utah.
A photo posted on Flickr.com on August 25, 2005, shows the Brigham Young statue at Provo Library, and it can be viewed online.
Upon closely examining the viral image, it was found that Brigham Young’s statue was edited and replaced with a photo of Dr. Ambedkar. The image of Ambedkar’s statue used in the edit was originally posted on Facebook by a user named SthapathiCreations on March 21, 2020.
In the provided collage, one can clearly see the differences between the images — Brigham Young’s statue has been replaced with Ambedkar’s statue through editing.
Conclusion:
DFRAC’s fact check confirms that the viral image of Dr. Ambedkar on social media is digitally altered. Therefore, the user’s claim is misleading.
