An image is being widely shared on social media in which we can see a Christian religious leader addressing a media briefing while others listen in.

Those sharing the image claim that it shows a public event in Tamil Nadu, where a Christian preacher was given more value than any minister or bureaucrat.

A social media user shared the image, which has text embedded on it: “Whether it’s the district collector, the State minister, the District SP, everyone comes after the Christian preacher. Think about where Tamil Nadu is going!!” (Translated from Tamil)

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral image shows a religious gathering and not a public event.

On a Google reverse image search, we found that the same image was shared by Geetha Jeevan, a Cabinet Minister of Tamil Nadu, on July 26.

The caption associated with the image read, “While participating in the flag hoisting ceremony held today on the occasion of the 443rd anniversary of Tuticorin Panimayamatha Church.” The post also had more photos of the event.

The images were also shared on the Instagram page of Geetha Jeevan.

In the viral image, we can see that the person sitting next to the religious leader is Geetha Jeevan.

We further searched with relevant keywords and found that the event was also reported by News 7 Tamil on July 26. According to the report, the 443rd festival of Thoothukudi’s Panimaya Mata Cathedral began on July 26, with a vibrant flag-hoisting. It is a spiritual celebration of Christians that goes on for 11 days.

ANI also reported the event on July 26.  According to the report, the 443rd annual festival of ‘Our Lady of Snows’ began in Thoothukudi with a ceremonial flag-hoisting and noon coronation of Mother Mary at the basilica. The 11-day celebration ended with a grand procession on August 5.

Hence, we can ascertain that the claim is false.