New Delhi, June 14: Multiple Facebook posts published in June 2019 share three photos alongside references to violence that broke out during Eid-al-Fitr in Kashmir. The images are being used in a misleading context; all three are old photos from unrelated protests in 2016.
The photos have been shared repeatedly on Facebook, for example in a post published on June 5, 2019, and shared dozens of times since.
The three images show a man in a camouflage vest with a bloody face; people standing in a street throwing rocks, and a damaged vehicle surrounded by soldiers.
Translated to English, the post’s Hindi-language caption says: “Stone pelting continues in Srinagar after Eid prayers, should they be shot at first sight?”
Below is a screenshot of the misleading post:
Screenshot of misleading Facebook post
The same photos have been shared elsewhere on Facebook with exactly the same or similar claims.
A Facebook post, dated June 5, 2019, contains the same claim but only shares a single photo – the one showing the man bleeding from his face.
On June 5, 2019, clashes did take place in Kashmir during Eid-al-Fitr celebrations, with some people throwing stones, as reported by news agency ANI and Deccan Herald.
The photos in the misleading Facebook posts do not show this incident; in fact they were all taken in 2016 at unrelated protests.
The first photo, of the man with the bloody face, appears in this report dated August 25, 2016 on Amarujala, about a clash between BJP workers and police in Lucknow.
Below is a screenshot of the Amarujala report, in which the same image of the bleeding man appears on the right:
Screenshot of Amarujala report
The report’s headline translates to English as: “Clash between police and BJP workers in Lucknow.”
The bottom-left image, showing people throwing stones, matches a Reuters photograph taken on January 15, 2016, in Srinagar during a protest after Friday prayers there.
Below is a screenshot of the photo as it appears on the Reuters image website:
Screenshot of Reuters photograph
Its caption reads: “A Kashmiri protester throws a stone towards Indian police during a protest in Srinagar, January 15, 2016. The protesters demonstrated after Friday prayers demanding what they said was freedom from Indian rule in Kashmir.”
The image in the bottom-right of the misleading Facebook post was published in an article dated June 26, 2016 on the website of Indian Express about an attack on a vehicle belonging to paramilitary soldiers in Kashmir.
Below is a screenshot of the news report:
Screenshot of Indian Express report
AFP
