Recently, a photo has been circulated on the social media platform Facebook with the claim that it shows the bodies of Bengalis killed by the Pakistani army in 1971. The same photo has also been used at various times in different reports by several domestic media outlets. In Indian media, the photo has been circulated with the claim that it depicts the scene of the Chuknagar massacre in Khulna in 1971.
See such a post circulated on Facebook here (Archive).
See reports in domestic media using the photo: The Daily Star, The Financial Express, Dhaka Tribune, and Sylhet Today24.
See a report on the entertainment-based platform e-arki’s website using the same photo here (Archive).
A report containing the photo was also found on a website called BD Digest. See the report on that website here.
See blogs published on blogpost websites using the same photo with the claim of it being from 1971 here, here, here, here, here, and here.
See reports in Indian media using the same photo with the claim of it being from the genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War: India Today, Hindu Voice, and Barta Today.
See a post on the Facebook page of Indian politician and West Bengal BJP spokesperson Debjit Sarkar here (Archive).
See a report on the history-related website The Indosphere here (Archive).
See a post on X (formerly Twitter) here (Archive).
Fact-check
The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation found that the photo in question is not of the bodies of Bengalis killed by the Pakistani army during the 1971 Liberation War. In reality, the photo is a depiction of the Armenian Genocide, which took place from 1915 to 1923 under the former Ottoman Empire. It has been circulated for several years on various platforms with the claim that it is a photo from the 1971 Liberation War.
A reverse image search for the photo in question found the image on the stock photo websites Getty Images and Alamy. See the photos here and here. The platforms state that the photo is from the Armenian Genocide, which began around 1915. The Getty Images website mentions that the Turks carried out this massacre of Armenians.
Following the information obtained, a keyword search led to two reports containing the photo in question on the websites of the German-based media outlet Deutsche Welle and the International Federation for Human Rights.
These reports also confirm that the photo is from the time of the Armenian Genocide carried out by the Ottoman Empire in Armenia during World War I. During this genocide, which began in 1915 and lasted until 1923, millions of Armenians were brutally massacred by the Turkish rulers of the Ottoman Empire.
Therefore, the photo in question is not from the 1971 genocide by the Pakistani forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
Thus, a photo from the Armenian Genocide is being circulated with the claim that it shows the bodies of Bengalis killed by the Pakistani army during the Bangladesh Liberation War; which is false.
Sources
- Getty Images Website: Armenians killed by Turks during the Armenian Genocide.
- Alamy Website: Armenian Genocide victims in 1915
- Deutsche Welle Website: Dutch parliament recognizes 1915 Armenian ‘genocide’
- International Federation for Human Rights Website: 100 years after the Armenian Genocide: A manifesto for memory and justice
- Rumor Scanner’s Analysis
