Viral TIME magazine cover featuring Indian MP Chandra Shekhar Azad is fake

What is the claim?

Social media users are circulating an image of a purported TIME magazine cover featuring Chandra Shekhar Azad, an Indian Member of Parliament (MP) and leader of the regional political party Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram). Azad is widely known as the founder of the Bhim Army, an Ambedkarite and Bahujan rights organization in India.

The alleged TIME cover, dated March 1-8, 2021, bears the title, "THE NEXT 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE, RISING LEADER CHANDRA SHEKHAR AAZAD BY SAUMYA KHANDELWAL"

One X (formerly Twitter) user posted the viral image with the caption: "This is a strategic placement that has a long history. It has long been theorised that a radical caste + radical Islamist combination has the best chance to Balkanise India. In this 👇🏻several powers finally see that opportunity. Expect a major thrust in 'global positioning.'" This post has garnered over 11,800 views and 2,300 likes.

 Social media users claim this image depicts a TIME managing cover featuring Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad. (Source: X/Instagram/Modified by Logically Facts)

Archives of these posts can be found here, here, and here.

However, our investigation reveals that the viral image is fake. TIME magazine did not publish any such cover featuring Azad.

What are the facts?

A reverse image search yielded no results involving a TIME magazine cover with Azad. We examined the March issues of TIME magazine and found no cover featuring the Bhim Army founder.

We did, however, find a brief article about Azad published in the  March 1/March 8, 2021 issue of TIME titled, "CHANDRA SHEKHAR AAZAD Organizing against oppression."

The same article, published on February 17, 2021, is available on the TIME website. The photo in the article differs from the one used on the purported cover. In the genuine article, Azad is seated atop a white car, holding a book. The photo is credited to Saumya Khandelwal, an India-based photojournalist, and the text is attributed to Billy Perrigo, a TIME correspondent. 

Screenshot from TIME magazine (Source: TIME)

We also found a post (archived here) on Azad's official X account, where he shared the TIME magazine feature but did not indicate that he appeared on the cover.

Azad shared screenshots from the article and wrote, "I'm humbled to be recognised as one among 100 emerging leaders in the world listed @TIME Thank You for recognising Bhim Army & our movement for social justice and equality in 2021 #TIME100 NEXT. It's a recognition of Bahujans' struggle for self respect (sic)."

Azad was featured in the ‘2021 TIME100 Next’ under the ‘advocates’ category for his work on empowering Dalits and other marginalized communities in India. The TIME100 Next is an expansion of the flagship TIME100 franchise that highlights 100 emerging leaders shaping the future.

The original cover

The authentic cover of the March 1-8, 2021, issue of TIME magazine featured Dua Lipa, a renowned English and Albanian singer-songwriter. The cover photograph of Lipa was credited to Micaiah Carter for TIME.

The original cover and the viral one are almost identical in layout and design, except for Lipa's photo and the accompanying text, "Pop Prodigy Dua Lipa by Kylie Minogue," which has been altered in the viral image. Additionally, the original TIME masthead appears significantly transparent, unlike the bold appearance on the viral cover.

Furthermore, the original cover includes names of other stories, along with the dateline "March 1 / March 8, 2021" in the top right, the text "double issue," and "time.com" written on the red border. These details are similar to those on the viral cover, suggesting that the viral image is likely an edited version of the genuine TIME magazine cover with Azad's photo superimposed.

Comparison between the screenshot of the TIME cover from March 1-March 8, 2021, and the viral cover. (Source: Screenshots/TIME/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

Azad’s photo

While we could not independently verify the original source of Azad's photo used in the viral image, we traced it to multiple social media posts and news reports from 2019 onwards, indicating that it is a publicly available, popular photo of the Bhim Army leader.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, Azad secured victory from Nagina, a Scheduled Caste-reserved constituency in western Uttar Pradesh.

The verdict

TIME magazine has not issued a cover featuring Bhim Army founder Chandra Shekhar Azad. However, he was featured on the 'TIME100 Next' 2021 list in the 'advocates' category. The original cover for March 1-March 8, 2021, featured Dua Lipa.

(Correction: An earlier version of this story erroneously said that Chandra Shekhar Azad is the only Dalit MP from Uttar Pradesh. The error is regretted.)