New Delhi: An image showing “Pakistani” and “Turkish” students using Indian flags to escape Ukraine has gone viral on social media. Many Facebook users have taken a dig at Pakistani students with the caption: “One is reminded of their father (read India) during a time of crisis.”
The news about Pakistani and Turkish students using the tricolour to escape Ukraine is true and has been reported by several media outlets.
ANI had posted a video of the incident on 2 March. Wion, NDTV and News 18 had also published similar reports with the correct photos.
But the photo accompanying this news on social media is incorrect.
Users have randomly picked it from the official Twitter handle of the Indian Embassy in Hungary. The photo was actually of a batch of Indian students arriving in Hungary from the Ukrainian side at Zahony crossing. They were travelling to Budapest to catch a flight back to India.
More batches of Indian students enter Hungary from Ukrainian side at Zahony crossing, travelling onward to Budapest for return to India by AI flight today @MEAIndia @IndiainUkraine @IndianDiplomacy @DDNewslive @airindiain pic.twitter.com/XleEiGwbyH
— Indian Embassy in Hungary (@IndiaInHungary) February 26, 2022
The photo showcased India’s multi-pronged efforts to evacuate citizens through land borders after the Ukrainian government closed the country’s airspace following the Russian military offensive.
Fake photo continues to be circulated
The news about Pakistani and Turkish students using the tricolour to escape Ukraine is true and has been reported by several media outlets.
ANI had posted a video of the incident on 2 March. Wion, NDTV and News 18 had also published similar reports, talking about how Pakistani and Turkish students made makeshift Indian flags out of curtains, using colour sprays.
#WATCH | “We were easily given clearance due to the Indian flag; made the flag using a curtain & colour spray…Both Indian flag & Indians were of great help to the Pakistani, Turkish students,” said Indians students after their arrival in Bucharest, Romania#UkraineCrisis pic.twitter.com/vag59CcPVf
— ANI (@ANI) March 2, 2022
Despite several true depictions of the incident, the wrong image continues to be used by Facebook users, with captions that mock Pakistan students for using the “Indian identity”. It has also been used as a tool to fan patriotic sentiments in this crisis.
Some said “those who throw the tricolour by the roadside on 15 August and 26 January, have finally understood the flag’s value”.
Also read: Tired smiles, victory signs on Indians’ post-midnight return from Ukraine at IAF’s Hindon base