An image featuring Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and former cricketer Shahid Afridi, holding a shield-like trophy, has gone viral on social media platforms.
Those sharing have claimed that the Pakistan government awarded Afridi for his statements against India amid Operation Sindoor.
News outlets such as ABP News and Navbharat Times also published stories on this.
Swipe right to see the claims.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Navbharat Times)
What we found: At first, we used a virtual private network to search for Pakistan's news outlets.
We ran a Google reverse image search on the image and were led to a report by The Tribune from 17 May.
The report carried the same viral image and noted that a meeting took place between PM Sharif and Afridi where the cricketer lauded Pakistan's armed forces and congratulated the prime minister for a successful Operation Bunyanum Marsoos (Pakistan's retaliation to Operation Sindoor).
The report did not mention that Afridi was awarded by the Pakistan government.
Similarly, we came across a post by Afridi about the meeting. He shared the same viral image, however, there was no mention of an award.
We did not find any official statements by the Pakistan government about awarding Afridi, as well.
We reached out to Lubna Jerar Naqvi, a fact-checker and journalist from Pakistan who confirmed to us that Afridi did not receive an award. The shield is a token given too important individuals meeting prime minister, added the journalist.
Conclusion: Social media users have falsely claimed that Afridi was awarded for his statements against India amid Operation Sindoor.
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