Former Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar has landed in controversy by sharing a fake morphed photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media. In the photo shared by Sircar on Twitter, PM Modi is seen bowing with folded hands to the chairperson and founder of Reliance Foundation, Nita Ambani.
Sharing the photo of the PM, Sircar wrote in a tweet, “Wish fellow parliamentarians and others in politics also received such courtesy and bonhomie — from their permanently-scowling PM. In a mature democracy, we would know the two-way relationship, favours, transactions. Some day, history will tell us.”
However, Sircar deleted the photo after users pointed out that it is fake.
Claim
Photo of PM Narendra Modi bowing with folded hands to Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani.
Fact Check
This is a morphed photo. The face of Nita Ambani has been put in place of someone else. We found that the original photo is from 2018 and shows PM Modi greeting a social worker, Deepika Mondol, who was visiting the Rashtrapati Bhawan for an event with her husband, Samar Mondol.
Deepika Mondal runs an NGO called Divya Jyoti Cultural Organisation and Welfare Society.
Current CEO of Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar Vempati reprimanded Sircar for sharing the morphed image. He said, “Disgusting & shameful that a morphed image is being circulated in this manner. It is one thing to not like a person. But it is reprehensible that a former CEO of the Public Broadcaster and former Culture Secy is publicising fake images. We are truly embarrassed by these actions.”
