India’s rising Covid-19 cases have lately dominated the discourse on and off social media. With several states introducing stern measures to combat the resurgence of coronavirus cases, precautionary steps such as maintaining social distancing and use of face masks are being highlighted time and again.
Netizens are sharing an image of Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, where Arvind Kejriwal can be seen putting a face mask on a child. The image is being shared with a caption hinting that Arvind Kejriwal has flouted the norms of wearing a mask amid coronavirus pandemic. The image is being shared with a caption, “Son, I will make you pay a penalty of two thousand… if you ask where our masks are.”
Taking a dig at Kejriwal, another user shared the image and wrote in Hindi, “He doesn’t wear a mask himself, but makes other people use them. He has Z+ security to shield him from coronavirus.”
Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the viral picture is not related to the pandemic. It was taken in November 2019 when Kejriwal and Sisodia were distributing pollution masks among students at a Delhi school. After a thorough reverse image search it was found that the images date back to 2019. As per the picture caption in an “India Today” report on November 1, “Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia distributed pollution masks among school students at a Delhi school.” The picture was attributed to PTI.
A similar picture was also published by “Hindustan Times” on November 2, 2019, where the caption reads, “Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seen helping a student as he puts on a mask, at Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Civil Lines, in New Delhi”. The headline of the report says, “Kejriwal distributes masks to school kids, asks them to write to Punjab, Haryana CM regarding smog”.
Arvind Kejriwal had also tweeted photos of this event on November 1, 2019, with a caption, “Delhi has turned into a gas chamber due to smoke from crop burning in neighboring states. It is very imp that we protect ourselves from this toxic air. Through pvt & govt schools, we have started distributing 50 lakh masks today. I urge all Delhiites to use them whenever needed.”
Hence, an old image is being shared to claim that Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are not wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
