No, The Postage Stamp Issued During The 9th Asian Games In 1982 Had No Religious Aspect.

Recently an image of a postage stamp went viral on social media. The stamp has an image of a wrestler with a beard throwing another wrestler to the ground. According to the details written on the stamp, it was issued during the 9th Asian Games held in India in 1982. Sharing the image user wrote, “Indira Gandhi issued this stamp in 1982 at the time of the Asian Games. This postage stamp depicts an Ottoman Muslim wrestler beating a Hindu top striker. You can think from this what the mentality of Congress is and how much Congress hates Sanatan Dharma.”

The same image was forwarded to our 24*7 Fact line number 9049053770.

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However, as we investigated, we came to know that the viral claim was false. The stamp does not depict any religion of the wrestlers. Here’s the fact check.

Fact Check 

We started our investigation by conducting a reverse image search. As a result, we found the same postal stamp published on the website Stampexindia, Philaart and Stampworld. The stamp is a commemorative stamp issued in the year 1982 during the 9th Asian Games held in New Delhi.

Moving forward we came across a list of commemorative postage stamps in India between 1981 and 1990. There were found the viral postage stamp and according to the list, the stamp was issued on 30 October 1982 during the 9th Asian Games held in New Delhi. By clicking on the link provided, we found the details of the stamp. As mentioned there, the theme of the stamp was wrestling and the designer of the stamp was A. Ramachandran. 

On further search, we found the details of the stamp on the website istampgallery. The stamp depicts a painting of a wrestling bout. The scene is laid against a golden ground with flowering trees and plants. The Persian influence is predominant in the style of the painting. The work is executed in the Mughal style of the early 17th century and is probably a copy of the Persian original. This painting, done by Janaki, is available in the National Museum, New Delhi. The stamp has been designed by A. Ramachandran based on the transparency obtained through the courtesy of the National Museum, New Delhi.

We also found the information about the stamp on the Indian Post website. 

Nowhere in the information provided is the religion of the wrestlers mentioned. Thus, we can say that the stamp issued during the 1982 Asian Games has no religious aspects.

Conclusion 

From our investigation, we can say that the viral message is false. The stamp issued in the 1982 Asian Games was designed by A. Ramachandran. The work was executed in the Mughal style of the early 17th century and has no religious aspect.