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Image Credit: Twitter/Amit Shah, Mint
BJP Shares Photo Of 'A Long Way Home' Author Saroo Brierley As Housing Scheme Beneficiary
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
India, 4 Nov 2022 11:14 AM GMT
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As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
The poster shared by several BJP leaders claiming to showcase the slum dwellers who received a benefit from the In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation project is false. The image features an Indian-born Australian businessman Saroo Brierly and his family, not the housing scheme beneficiaries.
The leaders shared a poster with images of PM Modi, a high-rise building, and a family with a text. The image used in the poster does not show slum dwellers; instead, an Indian-born Australian businessman Saroo Brierley and his family.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on November 2, inaugurated 3,024 newly-built houses for the economically weaker section (EWS) in the Kalkaji area of New Delhi. He handed over the keys to the eligible beneficiaries under the slum rehabilitation program named 'In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation' in an event at Vigyan Bhawan.
Several prominent Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, announced the inauguration ceremony of these flats to rehabilitate the slum dwellers in the national capital and shared a post on social media to notify the public about the event.
The leaders shared a poster that consisted of images of PM Modi, a high-rise building, and a family with a text in the Hindi language, which translates into English as "Now, a concrete house instead of a slum. The central government gives a huge gift to Delhi citizens. PM Sri Narendra Modi Ji will inaugurate 3,024 newly constructed EWS houses and hand over the keys to the beneficiaries at 4:30 pm at Kalkaji (Delhi)."
Amit Shah shared the poster on Twitter on November 2 with a caption in the Hindi language, which translates into English as "Not only announcements but the Modi government fulfills its promises made to the public. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji will give the keys to happiness to the people living in slums in Delhi today. Modi Ji will give 3024 EWS Flats to the people in Delhi."
The official Twitter handle of BJP Delhi State also shared the same poster with a similar claim. Several other BJP leaders, such as former Education Minister Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, BJP Rajasthan Vice President Chandrakanta Meghwal, and the Member of Parliament Hardwar Dubey shared the same poster with a similar claim.
Claim:
Amit Shah shares a poster of the slum rehabilitation program featuring housing scheme beneficiaries.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian fact-check team verified the claim and found it false. The image used in the poster does not show slum dwellers; instead, an Indian-born Australian businessman Saroo Brierley and his family.
We conducted a reverse image search of the poster in question and found that the picture is quite a few years old and was first used by the Hindustan Times in an article published on August 31, 2013.
The article is titled "The incredible story of Saroo Brierley", wherein the picture is captioned "Big happy family: Saroo with his mother Kamla, his brother Kallu's family on the left, his sister Shekila and her son on the right."
The article explains the life journey of Saroo Brierley, who got separated from his family at the age of five and was adopted by an Australian couple. He was born in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, was separated from his family in 1986, and spent the next 25 years in Hobart. He traced his birthplace using Google Maps and traveled to India in 2012 and he reunited with his biological family.
Another Indian media outlet, such as Mint, used the same image as its cover photo while featuring the life journey of Brierley. The article was published on October 5, 2013, and the image was captioned, "Saroo Brierley with his Indian family". It was credited to 'Penguin Books India'.
Taking a clue from there, we searched on the publisher Penguin's website and found his biography named 'A Long Way Home'. An excerpt from his biography read, "He grew up with his new parents in Hobart, Tasmania for the next 25 years. Saroo's virtual odyssey of his homeland and search for his hometown and his mother made headlines across the world in 2012. His full story is recounted in his internationally bestselling autobiography, A Long Way Home, young readers' edition Lion: A Long Way Home and picture book Little Lion: A Long Way Home."
Brierley's story gained popularity worldwide after an Australian movie named 'Lion' was made starring Dev Patel. Further, over the years, the story got immense coverage among different platforms; click here and here to view.
Further, in an interview with Today's Willie Geist on February 27, 2017, Saroo Brierley discussed his journey. The video description reads, "Saroo Brierley, the inspiration for the Oscar-nominated movie "Lion," sits down with Sunday TODAY's Willie Geist to discuss his life story, saying he went through "hell on Earth" as a child before eventually reuniting with his birth mother."
In conclusion, the poster shared by several BJP leaders claiming to showcase the slum dwellers who received a benefit from the In-Situ Slum Rehabilitation project is false. The image features an Indian-born Australian businessman Saroo Brierley and his family, not the housing scheme beneficiaries.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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