New Delhi: As India struggles with the deadly second wave of Covid-19 and hospitals face an oxygen crisis, a photograph of a woman wearing an oxygen mask and lying on a stretcher is being shared widely online.
In the photo, a healthcare worker wearing a PPE suit can be seen wheeling the woman outside the Central Vista construction site.
The picture was shared by Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh on Twitter and wrote, “But is He moved? Does He care? Absolutely shocking!”
But is He moved? Does He care? Absolutely shocking! pic.twitter.com/TQcpHABuVJ
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 30, 2021
Maheshmurti Leni S. Jadav, national coordinator, AICC research department, also shared the picture with the hashtags #CentralVistaProject and #BjpDestroyedIndia”.
लाशों के ढेर पे हमारे भारत में एक आलीशान इमारत बनाई जा रही है।
#CentralVistaProject #BjpDestroyedIndia pic.twitter.com/qqfk5TRBAb— Maheshmurti Leni S Jadhav (@lenijadhav) April 30, 2021
Several other users also shared the image on Twitter.
The image that defines the times…😡😢#COVIDEmergency #COVIDSecondWave #OxygenShortage #CentralVistaProject pic.twitter.com/ho1xFWPu8c
— Jaspreet Bindra, Prisoner # 332 in UK Quarantine (@j_bindra) April 28, 2021
Fact check
The viral photo of the woman, however, is morphed.
The photo is amalgamation of two images. The image of the woman with an oxygen mask was carried by The Wall Street Journal in a report titled ‘India’s Covid-19 Surge Worsens as Nation Stumbles in Vaccine Expansion‘. The second image — the Central Vista construction work signboard — is from a news report by Scroll.
Jairam Ramesh later said, “Regardless of whether this is an actual photograph or a depiction, what is absolutely shocking is the Prime Minister not scrapping the Central Vista project in the middle of a devastating pandemic.”
Regardless of whether this is an actual photograph or a depiction, what is absolutely shocking is the Prime Minister not scrapping the Central Vista project in the middle of a devastating pandemic.
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) April 30, 2021
Another Twitter user who had shared the morphed image said, “(Yes, it might be photoshopped. Yet.)”.
(Yes, it might be photoshopped. Yet.)
— Jaspreet Bindra, Prisoner # 332 in UK Quarantine (@j_bindra) April 28, 2021
In the past few weeks, the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has choked health facilities across the country. Several Opposition leaders have slammed the Modi government for bringing the construction work of its ambitious Central Vista redevelopment project under the ambit of “essential services” for smooth movement of labourers even as Covid cases spiral.
In collaboration with SM Hoaxslayer
Also read: No, empty nebuliser is no substitute for oxygen cylinder as this doctor claimed in viral video
All INC MPs should donate their monthly salaries and add their personal contribution to that thereby submitting DOUBLE their salaries to a fund of their choosing before asking for the Central Vista project to be cancelled.
This is not about the Central Vista project, this is about making Modi look bad.
If INC really had any feelings for the welfare of the country, it would have built the infrastrucutre in the last 67 years that this govt built in the last 7.