‘Factly’ has received a screenshot on its Whatsapp number asking to verify the authenticity of the photo which claims – “Malabar Gold Directors celebrating Pakistan Independence day”. Similar claims were made on social media platforms as well. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of a few men cutting a cake engraved with Pakistan flag is that of Malabar Gold directors celebrating Pakistan’s Independence Day.
Fact: The photo is that of a celebration event organised by ‘UAE EXCHANGE’ company. So, the claim that the men seen cutting the cake are Malabar Gold Directors stands FALSE.
When the photo in the post is run through the reverse image search, it is found that the photo is in circulation since 2016. Owing to its virality, ‘Malabar Gold and Diamonds’ has in a Facebook post provided clarification about the photograph. The post states “MALICIOUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST MALABAR GOLD AND DIAMONDS
Last couple of days a photograph of a cake cutting event, the image shown below, has been circulating in the social media and WhatsApp alleging that it belongs to Malabar Gold and Diamonds. This CAKE CUTTING EVENT is NOT CONNECTED with MALABAR GOLD AND DIAMONDS. The image is that of a celebration event done by UAE EXCHANGE another Indian company based out of Middle East and has NO RELATION with MALABAR GOLD AND DIAMONDS”.
The company has also attached a collage as a proof to suggest the men cutting the cake are the employees of ‘UAE EXCHANGE’. This collage can be seen below.
The Facebook post of ‘UAEExchange UAE’ seen in the collage can be found here. Newspaper articles that reported about this issue can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, a photograph of ‘UAE Exchange’ staff cutting a cake engraved with Pakistan flag is falsely shared as that of ‘Malabar Gold directors celebrating Pakistan Independence Day’.
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