Is the viral image of a woman holding a placard that reads ‘Boycott Bollywood’ real?
A photograph of an Indian woman carrying a placard during a protest is going viral on various social media platforms. The placard reads –
“भारतीय Bollywood मनोरंजन का नहीं इस्लाम और उर्दू के प्रचार का अड्डा है। इसलिए आपको हर मूवी में इस्लाम को महान और हर गाने में अली, मौला, खुदा यह शब्द सुनने को मिलते हैं boycott Bollywood”
Translation –
“Indian Bollywood is not a place for entertainment but for the promotion of Islam and Urdu.
That’s why you get to hear Islam hailed as great in every movie and the words Ali, Maula, Khuda in every song boycott Bollywood“
Claim:
Netizens are sharing the viral photograph on social media to show that the woman holding the placard and the rest of the protesters along with her are carrying out a protest against Bollywood, and the protest shows how furious people are with Bollywood in terms of it giving preference to Islam and Islamic content in its movies and songs.
A Facebook user named ‘Rajesh Sharma‘ posted the viral photograph on a public group named ‘MODI JI YOGI JI FAN’S‘ on 21 July, and his post had already garnered more than four thousand likes at the time of writing this news report.
A Facebook user named ‘Rag Darbari‘ also posted the viral photograph and captioned it as –
“बात तो सही है”
Translation – “That’s right”
At the time of writing this news report, his post had already amassed over five thousand likes and was shared more than one thousand times.
A Twitter user with the handle ‘@PanditG1105‘ also tweeted the viral photograph and captioned it as –
“BOLLYWOOD का बहिष्कार इसलिए जरुरी है ।।”
Translation –
“This is why Bollywood needs to be boycotted”
BOLLYWOOD का बहिष्कार इसलिए जरुरी है ।। pic.twitter.com/3MUHBt4fgE
— अवि शर्मा / अवि पंडित। 🔱जय श्री महाकालेश्वर🔱 (@PanditG1105) July 6, 2021
Another Twitter user with the handle ‘@DEEPAKRASTOGI55‘ tweeted –
“जिहादी बॉलीवुड का पूर्ण तरीके से बायकाट करो, भाइयो”
Translation –
“Completely boycott Jihadi Bollywood, brothers”
जिहादी बॉलीवुड का पूर्ण तरीके से बायकाट करो, भाइयो pic.twitter.com/siSMgvdOIY
— राष्ट्रवादी, दीपक रस्तोगी (@DEEPAKRASTOGI55) July 8, 2021
— ठाकुर साहब धीर सिंह शेखावत हिन्दू मण्ढां जयपुर (@dheer_mandha) July 26, 2021
Truth
The viral image is not real, it is doctored.
We took the viral image and ran a reverse image search on Tineye, and found the original image on Getty Images, a distributor of still imagery, video, and multimedia products, as well as a recognized provider of other forms of premium digital content, including music. The description of the image clearly suggests that the original photo was captured by a stringer ( a freelance journalist, photographer, or videographer who provides reports, photos, or videos to a news outlet) named Narinder Nanu on 20 December 2012. The original photo depicts a group of students in Amritsar, Punjab protesting against the heart-rending Nirbhaya gang rape that shook the entire nation. The original placard reads – “DON’T TELL ME HOW TO DRESS! TELL THEM NOT TO RAPE!!”
Although this much of evidence was enough for us to conclude that the viral image is doctored and not real but we decided to look for more sources to corroborate the fact. We discovered a news story published on 20 December 2012 by the New York Daily News titled “Indian women live in fear of violence as gang-rape of 23-year-old student on a bus sparks protests.” The news story also contains the original photo and the New York Daily News has also credited the photo to Getty Images. The news story can be accessed here.
We also found a news report filed by BBC on 21 December 2021 titled “Fifth arrest in Delhi bus gang rape,” and it also contains the original image. Therefore, after conducting a thorough investigation, we conclude that the viral image is doctored and highly misleading.
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