Fact-check: Did Indian Air Force shower flower petals on the migrant workers walking home amid coronavirus lockdown

On Monday, a day after the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy thanked the frontline healthcare workers by showering petals on hospitals, an image of a helicopter showering migrant workers with the rose petals had gone viral on social media.

Ahmedabad Mirror Editor Deepal Trivedi shared the image with equating the flypast with migrant workers crisis.

Good morning.The helicopter flower shower & fly past in #India was to boost morale of #coronawarriors.
A robust #democracy would have ensured that instead of this,the government should have made arrangements to airlift poor migrants.
What is your opinion?
Pix source: unknown pic.twitter.com/u0ibbqs3V6

— Deepal.‏‎‎Trivedi (@DeepalTrevedie) May 4, 2020

This image was retweeted by various people including Congress MP Manickam Tagore.

One Toral Varia, who identifies herself as former journalist, shared the image with disclaimer that she got it on WhatsApp.

Got this in one of the WA groups. I haven’t verified it’s authenticity but the contrast is far too sharp to be ignored. #coronavirus pic.twitter.com/xc43rT4vQN

— Toral Varia (@toralvaria) May 4, 2020

Indian screenwriter Mayur Puri, too, took to Twitter to share the unverified image with disclaimer that he found it on Facebook.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth a million.
I don’t know who clicked it (someone posted it on FB) but the photographer deserves a prize for capturing every aspect of 2020 in one frame. History is made of pictures like these. pic.twitter.com/5OfUvPjqBB

— Mayur Puri / मयूर पुरी (@mayurpuri) May 4, 2020

This image was retweeted by noted photographer Atul Kasbekar, who knows the nitty gritty of digitally enhancing images, as well.

The image was shared by many others.

pic.twitter.com/w5ZJtIygQs

— Prakash Kashwan प्रकाश कसवाँ (@PKashwan) May 4, 2020

However, the image is digitally enhanced.

Facts about the viral ‘helicopter showering petals on migrants’ picture

The image of the migrant workers walking on the roads amid lockdown is from March 2020, over a month before the flypast.

The image was clicked by AFP photographer Money Sharma in Faridabad on March 27, 2020.

Armed forces to salute #CoronaWarriors today; fly past by @IAF_MCC from Srinagar to Thiruvanathapuram & Dibrugarh to Kutch.

Helicopters from @IAF_MCC & Indian Navy to fly over hospitals treating coronavirus patients and shower petals. Army bands to conduct mounted band displays. pic.twitter.com/V086wPCbWw

— PIB in Odisha #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIBBhubaneswar) May 3, 2020

The above image of the helicopter was shared by PIB Bhubaneswar on Twitter.