Claim: A post includes a photo of two seemingly impoverished Pakistani children having a meal and text stating that people in the country are worried due to inflation, unemployment, and poverty while those in power are focused on political battles.
Fact: The photo is not from Pakistan but Bangladesh; it is also not recent and was taken in 2013.
On 25 January 2023, Twitter user @iamalijoyo posted a picture showing two children eating in Pakistan.
The picture was accompanied by the following caption:
“مہنگائی، بیروزگاری، غربت سے پریشان پاکستانی عوام۔۔۔ اور حکمران اشرافیہ کو عمران خان اور ان کی پارٹی سے بدلہ لینا ہے!
[Pakistani people are worried about inflation, unemployment, poverty. And the ruling elite has to take revenge on Imran Khan and his party!]”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check used reverse image search tools to ascertain the source of the photograph.
We found the original photo with a full description in an article by The Guardian, published on 23 January 2013 and titled, “Bangladesh: after the floods comes the hunger – in pictures.”
The picture, which was taken by Khaled Hasan for Oxfam, shows, “Shoneka, two, and Majedul, five, eat rice, but Majeda is skipping the meal as the family only have enough rice left for a few more days.”
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that the tweet has gained close to 800 views on Twitter and is gaining traction.
Conclusion: The picture is not recent nor from Pakistan; it is, in fact, from Bangladesh and was taken by photographer Khaled Hasan.
Background image in cover photo: Hermes Rivera