Claim: A collage of three pictures prove that Seema Haider is an Indian spy.
Fact: The pictures show three different women. The black-and-white image shows Usharani Narendra, one of India’s first woman sub-inspectors of police. Another one depicts Major Samia Rehman, a Pakistan Army officer who has served in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DR Congo. The third and last is actually Seema Haider.
On 11 July 2023, Facebook user ‘Kamred Zia Gupchani’ posted (archive) three pictures, claiming that Seema Haider — a married Pakistani woman who travelled to India to be with her Indian lover — is reportedly an Indian spy.
The entire caption is reproduced as follows:
“ابا ڏيو منھن ڪيسٽ جو ٻيو پاسو ڪھاڻي جو رخ تبديل ڪري ڇڏيو
سوشل ميڍيان صارفين ڇا پيا چئون
ھاڻ ھن ڳالھ ۾ ڪيترو وزن آھي سنگت پنھنجو پنھنجو
تجزيو پاڻ ڪري
ٻڌڻ ۾ پيو اچي
سيما پاڪستاني نـ پر انڊيا ايجنسي را جي ايجنٽ پرينڪا آهي..
جيڪا 2013 ۾ پاڪستان ۾ دبئي کان پنجاب جي شھر ملتان ۾ داخل ٿي.
اتي پرينڪا پنهنجو نالو مٽائي سيما سڏايو. سيما جي ملاقات ھڪ پنجاپي انور نالي سان ٿي.
انور دوکي سان ان جي ملاقات حيدر سان ڪرائي حيدر ۽ انور اسٽيشن تي گڏ مزدوري ڪندا ھئا.
مطلب حيدر اتي ڪمائيندو ھو. پرينڪا پنهنجن مقصد ۾ ڪاميابي کان پؤء واپسي اختيار ڪئي…!
پنج درجا پڙھيل آھيان بقول سيما جي ۽ انٽرويو ۾ جيڪا ٻولي ڳالھائي پئي انکي ڏسون ٻڌون پيا ته فرق نظر اچي ٿو
اردو روان سان ڳالھائي پئي انگلش جي به ترتيب بھتر لڳي ٿي ھندي فل ٿي اچي سنڌي ۾ ھٻڪي پئي
وڌيڪ خدا کي خبر آ اصل ڇا ماجرو آ
وھم ۽ گمان جنم وٺن پيا ڪيسٺ جي ٻي پاسي تي ٿورو گور ويچار ڪجي ٿو ته سوال جنم وٺن پيا
[There you go, this is the other side of the cassette
What the social media users are saying, how much weight is there in this issue, you do your own analysis. It has been heard that Seema is an agent of Indian agency RAW, who entered Multan in Punjab, Pakistan, from Dubai in 2013.
There, Priyanka changed her name to Seema and met a Punjabi man named Anwar.
Anwar duped Priyanka and got her to meet Haider, whom he used to work together with at the station.
Haider worked there. Priyanka decided to return after she was successful in her goals.
According to Seema, she has studied till Class 5. But listening to how she speaks in the interview, there is a difference [compared to her claim]. She speaks Urdu, English, and Hindi fluently but hesitates to speak Sindhi.
God knows what the real deal is.
This leads to illusions and assumptions. On the other side of the cassette, this needs to be pondered upon and, therefore, such questions arise.]”
Seema Haider, a married woman from Pakistan, and an Indian man named Sachin Meena met through PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds — an online multiplayer game commonly known as PUBG — and fell in love (archive). She moved to India with her four children, entering the country via Nepal and “reached Greater Noida to live with” her lover, according to a 4 July 2023 report (archive).
The two “met in an online gaming chat room during the pandemic,” DW News reported (archive). However, they were arrested after approximately a month of living together, BBC said (archive). They previously met in Nepal in March 2023, according to The New York Times (archive).
The couple are pictured here, here, here, and here in photos shot by Shubham Koul and Bhuvan Bagga — video journalist and South Asia correspondent based in India for AFP, respectively — and available on Getty Images.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check reverse-searched each of the three images included in the post.
The primary black-and-white image shows Usharani Narendra, one of India’s first woman sub-inspectors of police, who is mentioned in a Times of India article (archive) from 2021.
“The 67-year-old, who, according to police records, was directly recruited as SI in 1973, said she worked as chief security officer for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the latter’s visit to Chennai,” the publication wrote.
According to the Madras Musings (archive) newspaper’s article published on 16 January 2023, Usharani Narendra “was recruited in 1973” as a sub-inspector.
The image on the top of the collage actually shows Major Samia Rehman, a Pakistan Army officer who served (archive) in the United Nations (UN) Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We found this after coming across this LinkedIn post and this tweet (archive) after which we conducted a further search.
In May 2020, the UN Department of Peace Operations also tweeted (archive) an image of Major Samia Rehman, which makes it clear she is the same woman in the now viral collage.
Peacekeeper of the Day:
"My duty was ending on 6 April, but I'm unable to go home due to #COVID19. My 2-yr-old is asking, 'Mama, when will you be back?' I'm worried, but my passion for work has increased manifolds. Together we can slow the spread." #PKDay #womeninpeacekeeping pic.twitter.com/V0dK3VIKO0— UN Peacekeeping (@UNPeacekeeping) May 11, 2020
In the image, she can be seen holding a certificate of appreciation awarded to her in November 2019 “in recognition of distinguished service of an exceptional order while serving with the United Nations Organisation Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO)”. This picture can also be seen in this 2020 Facebook post (archive).
A blog that Major Samia Rehman wrote, titled “My 8 favourite things about being a peacekeeper,” is available here (archive). She also played herself (archive) in the 2021 Pakistani drama “Sinf-e-Aahan” (archive).
The third and last image is actually of Seema Haider; she is wearing the same dress as the one she donned in a video interview with IndiaTV (archive).
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Twitter, we found it shared here and here. In addition, this tweet reached over 28,000 people, with more than 70 comments, 270 retweets, and 380 likes.
Conclusion: The pictures collage show three different women. The black-and-white image shows Usharani Narendra, one of India’s first woman sub-inspectors of police. Another one depicts Major Samia Rehman, a Pakistan Army officer who has served in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in DR Congo. The third and last is actually Seema Haider.
Background image in cover photo: Shreshth Gupta
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