Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan (Photo Credit: Twitter: Madan Mitra)
New Delhi:
A video of former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan is going viral social media which claims that the former pacer was at Shaheen Bagh lending support to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. A Facebook page titled ‘बोल कि “लब आज़ाद हैं तेरे” Shabnam‘ posted the 13-second video on January 24, 2020, with a caption in Hindi – “à¤Âक ओर शेर आ लिये शाहीन बाग नाम है Irfan Pathan” (In Translation: Another Lion arrived at Shaheen Bagh. His name is Irfan Pathan).
The video went viral soon after the upload. The post garnered 78,000 views, 31,00 shares and 666 likes so far. The same post with exactly the same caption has been shared by many other Facebook users too.
FACT-CHECK
When our fact check team started investigating, we found that on January 14, 2020, Irfan Pathan had shared a similar video of a crowd of youngsters on Twitter and Facebook.
Pathan’s attire in the videos is the same. Although the 13-second video does not show the man sitting behind or the car very clearly but we found a glimpse of Trinamool Congress leader Madan Mitra is visible.
I will never know what retirement is... Thank you for all the love #kolkata #karamhati pic.twitter.com/F9XB6qj0UR
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) January 14, 2020
News Nation checked Mitra’s Twitter account and found that he shared photographs with Pathan that same day.
Some beautiful moments with ex-India cricketer par excellence Irfan Pathan for Kamarhati Premier Knock-Out cricket tournament organised by Kamarhati Development Society. Truly a moment to cherish to meet the man who is grace and humbleness personified. pic.twitter.com/PCrGxyH1no
— Citizen Madan Mitra| নাগরিক মদন মিতà§Âর (@madanmitraoff) January 14, 2020
Some beautiful moments with ex-India cricketer par excellence Irfan Pathan for Kamarhati Premier Knock-Out cricket tournament organised by Kamarhati Development Society. Truly a moment to cherish to meet the man who is grace and humbleness personified,” he wrote.
Verdict:
It is evident that the video is from Pathan’s visit to Kamarhati on the northern fringes of Kolkata on January 14, 2020, and not from Shaheen Bagh.
