Did Australian PM Anthony Albanese Take Oath Wearing Saffron Scarves? No, Viral Image Is Shared With False Context

A photo of the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is going viral on social media. He has sworn in as the country's 31st Prime Minister on May 23, 2022.

A photo of him standing on a dais, wearing a saffron scarves with 'Om' written over it is being shared. The photo has been going viral, claiming that he wore the saffron scarves with 'OM' written on it when he was swearing-in as Prime Minister.

The caption shared with this photo reads, "ऑस्ट्रेलिया के नए प्रधानमंत्री एंथनी अल्बानीस भगवा रग की पटिका धारण कर पद की शपथ ली.. जय श्री राम ...

[English Translation: New Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese took oath of office by wearing saffron rag. Jai shree Ram.]

Another user wrote, "ऑस्ट्रेलिया के नए प्रधानमंत्री एन्थिनी अल्बेनिज ,शपथ लेते हुए। ॐ नमः शिवाय । इनकी भेषभूषा देख कर भारत मे सेकुलरिस्टों की तो सुलग गई होगी."

[English Translation: The new Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albeneze, taking the oath. Om Namah Shivay. Seeing their dress, the secularists in India must have been smitten.]

A Twitter user wrote, "मिलिए नए ऑस्ट्रेलियाई प्रधान मंत्री एंथनी अल्बनीज़ से!! हर घर भगवा छायेगा राम राज्य फिर आयेगा, हर हर महादेव."

[English Translation: Meet Anthony Albanese, the new Australian Prime Minister!! Ram Rajya will come again in every house. Har Har Mahadev.]

It is being widely shared on social media with a similar claim.

Claim:

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took oath while wearing Saffron scarves with 'OM' written on it.

Fact Check:

The Logical Indian fact check team verified the viral claim and found it to be misleading. The viral picture is being shared with false context.

During the initial investigation, we did a google keyword search and found the viral image in a report of ABC news, an Australian media organization dated 19 May 2022. The title of the report reads, "Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese pictured wearing scarves bearing symbol used by Hindu ultra-nationalist group VHP India." According to the report, the viral picture was taken during a function organized by Hindu Council of Australia in Parramatta area of ​​Australia. In the other images, the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny can also be seen wearing similar saffron scarves. In the report, it was mentioned that this event took place days before the results of the Australian elections were declared. It is to be noted that PM Anthony Albanese became the 31st Prime Minister of Australia on 23 May 2022.

On searching more, we also found few more images of the same event shared by the official twitter handle of Anthony Albanese. The caption of the tweet reads, "A warm reception in Parramatta tonight with leaders from the Hindu faith and subcontinental communities."

Hindu Council of Australia also shared some images of the same event in which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can be seen wearing saffron scaves."

We looked for the footage of Anthony Albanese's swearing-in ceremony. We found the video of the oath ceremony uploaded on YouTube channel of Guardian Australia dated 23 May 2022. However, it can be clearly seen in the video that he is not wearing a saffron scarf.

He also tweeted image of his swearing-in ceremony. No where he was wearing the saffron scarves.

It is evident from our investigation that the viral image of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wearing saffron scarves is not from his swearing-in ceremony but from a function organized by the Hindu Council of Australia. Hence, the viral claim is false.

If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.

Also Read: Cannes Film Festival And Cannes Film Market Are Not The Same! Media Misreports