Fact Check: Man in viral image is not freedom fighter Bhagat Singh
A purported image of Bhagat Singh is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that the photo of Bhagat Singh being flogged was printed...
By Tejal Sinha Published on 15 Sep 2021 6:30 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A purported image of Bhagat Singh is widely being shared on social media. Users claim that the photo of Bhagat Singh being flogged was printed in the newspaper so that no one else dared to follow in his footsteps.
(Click here to view more such viral posts on Facebook )
(Click here to view more such viral posts on Twitter)
Fact Check
The claim is False.
NewsMeter performed a Google Reverse Image Search, which led us to a report by Sabrang. "A Century Down, Key Archival Docs remain buried: Jallianwala Bagh," reads its headline.
The report had published a similar picture. However, nowhere in the report had been mentioned that the man in the image is Bhagat Singh.
https://sabrangindia.in/
We then found a tweet by historian Manan Ahmed who had tweeted a few pictures including the viral image. The image had a caption: 'English soldier flogging an Indian student soldier.
The picture shows a Sikh student soldier stripped naked and tied to a steel ladder. It also showed that he was being lashed by a soldier.
We then found a report by BBC News published on February 19, 2013. On 13 April 1919, in this small garden near the Golden Temple, the British army under the leadership of Brigadier General Dyer opened fire and hundreds of unarmed Indians were killed.
Bhagat Singh's nephew Kiranjit Singh Sandhu said: "The Jallianwala massacre was an incident that shook the entire country. Bhagat Singh Ji was inspired by the same incident to fight for the freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh Ji studied in school and was very young. A few days after the Jallianwala Bagh incident, he quietly went to Amritsar and brought the soil stained with the blood of the martyrs."
It is also to be noted that Bhagat Singh was born on September 28, 1907, which makes him 12 years old during 1919. However, the person in the viral image is much older than 12, which makes it evident that he cannot be Singh.
It is therefore evident that the claim is False. Bhagat Singh was inspired by the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The young man seen in the viral picture is not Bhagat Singh.
