Fact Check: Old image of terrorist dressed as woman is from Afghanistan, not India
A post that shows a man in pink clothes with a green scarf around his head is going viral on Facebook
By Misha Rajani Published on 31 July 2021 5:15 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A post that shows a man in pink clothes with a green scarf around his head is going viral on Facebook with the claim that he is a terrorist who was captured in India.
According to the caption, "We had heard that people like Afzal would come out from every house during the Congress era but did not know that he would come out like this under BJP rule." (translated)
Fact Check
The claim is false.
The same image was carried by several news organizations reporting an incident in Afghanistan in 2012. According to The Atlantic, the Afghan security forces escorted Taliban militants clad in Afghan women dresses and were presented to the media at the Afghan Intelligence department in Mehterlam, Laghman province, on 28 March 2012. The Afghan Intelligence forces had arrested seven Taliban militants in the Qarghayi district of Laghman province.
According to reports by Daily Mail and the Mirror, the captured Taliban fighters were paraded "in front of the media after being caught dressed in drag in an attempt to infiltrate coalition troops in Afghanistan". The local police arrested seven men dressed in women's clothing in Mehterlam, Laghman province, east of Kabul.
We also found the photo on AP Images. The caption read, "In this March 28, 2012 file photo, Afghan security forces escort Taliban militants clad in Afghan women dresses to be presented to the media at the Afghan intelligence department in Mehterlam, Laghman province, east of Kabul, Afghanistan. Afghan Intelligence forces arrested seven Taliban militants in Qarghayi district of Laghman province."
Evidently, an old image from Afghanistan was falsely shared as a terrorist captured in India. Hence, the claim is false.
