AI-generated image circulated claiming Salman Khan donated 10 crore rupees for Babri Mosque construction
he historic Babri Mosque in Ayodhya, India, was demolished on December 6, 1992. Last year, a massive Ram Mandir was built at the same site, which has been a subject of widespread discussion and criticism in the country’s political arena. Amidst this, Humayun Kabir, a recently expelled Trinamool Congress MLA, took the initiative to build a mosque in Murshidabad, West Bengal, in the likeness of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. As part of this, the mosque’s foundation stone was laid on December 6 last year. It is known that a large amount of financial assistance has started pouring in from home and abroad for the construction of this mosque. It is even known that Bangladeshis are seeking to send financial aid on a personal level for the mosque’s construction. In light of this, a picture of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan has recently been circulated on social media, claiming that he also donated 10 crore rupees for the construction of the mosque. Various individuals have primarily used this discussed picture of Salman Khan to create videos with the viral claim and circulate them on social media.
See such posts circulated on Facebook here (Archive) and here (Archive).
See a post with the same claim circulated on YouTube here (Archive).
Fact-check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the image circulated, claiming to show Bollywood star Salman Khan donating 10 crore rupees for the Babri Mosque construction in Murshidabad, is not real. In fact, the discussed image was created with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology.
An investigation into the discussed claim found no information in Indian media or any reliable source regarding Salman Khan’s donation of 10 crore rupees for the construction of the Babri Mosque in Murshidabad.
Subsequently, a close examination of the circulated image of Salman Khan reveals that the posts circulated on Facebook were mirrored before being included in the video. When the image is restored to its normal orientation, Salman Khan is seen holding a symbolic check from a bank named HANKGORN, where 10 crore rupees were allegedly given to an account named BABRI MASJID.
However, a search did not find any bank named HANKGORN. Furthermore, a post related to the mosque, obtained from the Facebook page of Humayun Kabir, the mosque’s initiator, reveals that funds for the mosque are being collected in an account named ‘West Bengal Islamic Foundation Of India’ at the State Bank of India. This means that the account named BABRI MASJID seen in the discussed image has no connection with the mosque.
Additionally, some abnormality is noticed in Salman Khan’s facial features in the discussed image compared to his real appearance. Due to the presence of multiple inconsistencies, it is suspected that the image of Salman Khan was created with the assistance of AI technology.
To verify the truth of the matter, the image was tested on the AI content detection platform Hive Detect, which revealed a 99.99 percent probability of it being AI-generated.
Therefore, an AI-generated image has been circulated with the claim that it is a photo taken at the moment Salman Khan donated 10 crore rupees for the Babri Mosque being constructed in Murshidabad; which is completely false.
Sources
- Humayun Kabir Facebook Post
- Hive Detect
- Rumor Scanner’s Analysis