Banner text claims ‘Thank you Modi ji, for Mirabai Chanu’s medal win’; Fact Check

Amid India’s spree of winning Olympic medals this year, Twitter and WhatsApp messages are making rounds sharing an image of a banner giving credit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for getting a silver medal by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics.

The writing in Hindi on the banner reads: “Great! Look at the banner behind and read what is written.” Already it was shared by more than 70,000 viewers on social media.

And it was written as marked above that reads:

The text in Hindi (below) on the banner reads: “Felicitation of Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu. Thank you Modi ji, for Mirabai Chanu’s medal win.”

The text below the message reads: “Was the medal attained by Mirabai Chanu through her hard work or was it given to her by Modi Ji? If the latter is the case, why doesn’t Modi ji give medals to the whole team?” as a remark added to the caption.

The image with the banner shows a felicitation function to Chanu, who was seen in front of a banner, while sports minister Rijiju was seen giving speech on the occasion.

FACT CHECK

A reverse image search on Google traced the image to a photo releases by India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which contains the original photo. However, the banner behind the athlete reads: “Felicitation of Tokyo Olympics Silver Medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu. 26th July, 2021.” It doesn’t contain the words: “Thank you Modi ji, for Mirabai Chanu’s medal win,” which has been added by photoshopping the image later.

Here’s the original image and the doctored version of it that is being shared now on social media. PIB, which has released the original picture has clarified in a tweet about the morphed version being circulated in social media here.

Claim: “Felicitation of Tokyo Olympics Silver Medallist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu. 26th July, 2021. Thank you Modi ji, for Mirabai Chanu’s medal win”.

Conclusion: The claim conveying the idea that Modiji was behind athletes getting medals is doctored.

Our rating: Totally False —