A picture of a few people is doing the rounds on social media, where one of them can be seen squatting on the ground. It has been claimed that the man on the ground is Sirajuddin Haqqani, Home Minister of Afghanistan, serving his people.
The caption with the picture in Hindi reads: “ये ज़मीन पर बैठा शख़्स, #अफ़ग़ानिस्तान के गृहमंत्री सिराजुद्दीन हक़्कानी हैं, यहां पॉवर का मतलब कुर्सी नही बल्कि इंसानियत के लिए इंसाफ करना है। काश ऐसा अपने नेता/मंत्रीगण समझ पाते।” (English translation: This person sitting on the ground is Afghanistan’s Home Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. Here power does not mean chair but justice for humanity. I wish our leaders/ministers could understand this.)
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above image, and found the claim attached to it was false.
On putting the picture through the Google Reverse Image Search, we found the same picture on Nitter, dated February 9, 2022. According to the caption in Urdu, the man in the picture is governor of Helmand province in Afghanistan, who was interacting with the civilians during a patrol.
The caption in English translation reads as: “The governor of Faghan, Helmand province, shakes hands with a civilian during a patrol, while others issue orders on the spot. It is the blessing of the Islamic system that ideal peace has been established in Afghanistan and the nation is moving towards economic, political and social development”
On digging further, we found the same picture in a tweet, dated November 29, 2021, by the official Twitter handle of the Department of Borders and Tribal Affairs of Helmand province. In the series of tweets, the concerned Department stated that the man in the picture was Governor of Helmand province, Maulvi Abdul Ahad, during his visit to the southern districts.
وویل چې ستاسو جهاد، قربانۍ او خدمتونه د هېرېدلو نه دي، موږ به تل ستاسو منندوی او شکر ګذاره یو، تاسو په ډېرو سختو حالاتو کې زموږ سره همکاري کړې ده. او موږ مو یوازي نه یو پرې ایښي. نوموړي د خپل خوا هم د هر راز همکارۍ ډاډ ورکړ. pic.twitter.com/ZYAaaFplPX
— دهلمند ولایت دسرحدونو او قبایلو چارو ریاست (@Helmand_BTA) November 29, 2021
Hence, it is clear that the man in the picture is NOT Afghanistan Home Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, but Helmand province Governor Maulvi Abdul Ahad.
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