Fact-check: Photo shows Indian official attending a British Kashmiri rally in London?

Pakistani social media is awash with a photo that allegedly shows an Indian High Commission official attending a protest organised by British Kashmiris in London on August 2.

The claim is false. The image has been digitally manipulated.

Claim

An account on X, formerly known as Twitter, shared the image on August 4. It appears to show a man attending a protest on a British street, where demonstrators can be seen raising slogans in support of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir based banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC).

“We have been saying from day one that the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, driven by Hindutva ideology, is behind the [Joint Awami] Action Committee,” the post said. “The participation of the Indian High Commission in the Action Committee’s rally in London has proven this to be true.”

A screenshot placed on the image identifies the man as Shri Ram Prakash and claims he works at the Indian High Commission in London.

Identical claims were shared elsewhere on Xand Facebook as well.

Fact

The image has been digitally altered to insert the face of an Indian official. The original footage of the protest in Luton shows a different person.

The image was taken from a video shared on X by Truth Wire UK Bureau Chief Murtaza Ali Shah on August 2. The footage shows the protest in Luton and confirms that the person standing in the location is not the individual shown in the circulating image.

The face inserted into the photograph belongs to Shri Harsh Kumar Jain, India’s ambassador to the Philippines, according to his official profile.

The man identified in the social media posts as Shri Ram Prakash is principal private secretary, second secretary, to the Deputy High Commissioner at the Indian High Commission in London.

Verdict: The image has been digitally manipulated. The original footage from the Luton protest shows a different person, while the face added to the image belongs to India’s ambassador to the Philippines, Shri Harsh Kumar Jain.

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