Fact Check: Viral Photo of Woman Grabbing Nehru’s Collar Is AI-Generated

A photograph featuring India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, is being widely circulated on social media along with a story claiming that a woman once grabbed Nehru’s collar after he stepped out of Parliament.

According to the viral post, the woman allegedly confronted Nehru and said, “The country is free now, and you became the Prime Minister, but what did we get?” The post further claims that Nehru responded with a smile, saying that the woman had the freedom to grab the Prime Minister’s collar.

The post uses this alleged incident to make a political comparison with the present government. It claims that if someone questioned those in power in a similar manner today, they would be arrested or sent to jail.

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Fact Check:

DFRAC investigated the viral photograph. We first conducted a reverse image search of the viral photo to determine whether the image had previously appeared in any credible historical archive, news report, book, or other reliable source. The search did not lead us to any credible or official source regarding the photograph.

However, during the investigation, we found reports by BBC Hindi and ABP News that mention an incident in which a woman allegedly grabbed Jawaharlal Nehru by the collar outside Parliament. The BBC Hindi report states that “a woman came in front of Nehru and grabbed him by the collar.” According to the report, the woman entered the Parliament premises at the behest of Ram Manohar Lohia and, as soon as Nehru got out of his car, she grabbed his collar and said, “India has become independent, you have become the Prime Minister of the country, but what did I, an old woman, get?” Nehru reportedly replied, “You have got the freedom to stand here holding the collar of the Prime Minister of the country.” Similarly, an ABP News report states that one day, when Jawaharlal Nehru arrived at Parliament, an elderly woman present there grabbed him by the collar and said, “India has become independent, you have become the Prime Minister of the country, but what did I, an old woman, get?” The report says that the elderly woman had allegedly done so at the behest of Ram Manohar Lohia. When she said this to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he reportedly replied, “You have got the freedom to stand here holding the collar of the Prime Minister of the country.”

For further investigation, the DFRAC team analyzed the viral photograph using several AI-image detection tools, including Hive Moderation, Sightengine, and OpenAI. The results from all three tools indicated that the viral image had been generated using artificial intelligence. Hive Moderation found a 99.9 percent probability that the viral photograph was AI-generated.

Sightengine’s analysis also indicated a very high likelihood that the photograph was AI-generated, with the result showing a 99 percent probability of AI generation.

The image was further analyzed using an OpenAI detection tool, which indicated that the content had been created using OpenAI tools, based on a detected SynthID watermark. These findings provide multiple indications that the viral photograph is not an authentic historical photograph of Jawaharlal Nehru.

DFRAC also contacted AI expert Kumar Aniket for an independent assessment of the viral image. After examining the photograph, he confirmed that it displayed characteristics consistent with AI generation and agreed that the viral photograph was AI-generated.

Conclusion:

The photograph being circulated as evidence of an alleged confrontation involving Jawaharlal Nehru is AI-generated. DFRAC found no credible historical source verifying the claimed incident or the conversation attributed to Nehru. Therefore, the viral social media post is false. An AI-generated image has been presented as an authentic historical photograph and used to support an unverified political narrative about Jawaharlal Nehru and the present government.

Claim Review	A photograph Falsely Shows Woman Grabbing Nehru’s Collar Outside Parliament
Claim By	Instagram User
Fact check	AI-Generated image