Fact Check: Pakistani soldier checks inside lungi to identify Hindus in 1971 war? No, photo shows Indian soldier in Bangladesh
An image of a soldier checking the lungi of a person has gone viral as Pakistani troops looking for Hindus during the 1971 war in Bangladesh.
By Sibahathulla Sakib Published on 10 Jan 2025 10:31 PM IST
Claim: The image shows a Pakistani soldier checking if a man is circumcised to determine if he is a Hindu during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971.
Fact: The claim is false. The photo, taken by photojournalist Kishore Parekh, shows Indian troops inspecting villagers in Bangladesh in 1971.
Hyderabad: A black-and-white photo of a soldier looking inside a personās lungi has gone viral.
The image is accompanied by the claim that it shows a Pakistani soldier during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971 checking if a man was circumcised to distinguish between Hindus and Muslims.
The viral claim also alleges that Pakistani soldiers targeted Hindu villages, identifying Hindus through circumcision or their ability, or lack thereof, to recite Muslim prayers, before burning the villages.
A user on X shared the image with the caption: āA Pakistani soldier checks if a man is circumcised to determine if he is Muslim or Hindu during the Bangladesh War of Independence in 1971. In the countryside, Pakistan Army moved through villages and specifically asked for places where Hindus lived before burning them down. Hindus were identified by checking circumcision or by demanding the recitation of Muslim prayers. (sic)ā
Fact Check
NewsMeter found that the claim is false. The soldier in the photo is not Pakistani but Indian troops during the 1971 war.
A reverse image search led us to an article by the Dhaka Tribune titled ā1971 in Kishor Parekhās eyesā, published on December 16, 2016.
The article featured the same photograph, captioned, āAn Indian soldier checking for hidden ammunition ā Collected.ā The article discussed the work of Kishore Parekh, an Indian photojournalist who documented the Bangladesh Liberation War in his series āBangladesh: A Brutal Birth.ā
Further keyword searches led to a PDF version of Kishore Parekhās book with the same title. The photograph was on page 22, with the caption, āIndian troops grimly round up villagers suspected to be Pakistani spies. They peer into lungis in search of weapons.ā Hereās a screenshot of the photo.
Additionally, an academic paper by Professor Nayanika Mukherjee in a journal by Durham University confirmed this information. In the paper titled, āThe absent piece of skin: Gendered, racialized and territorial inscriptions of sexual violence during the Bangladesh war,ā an interview with Kishore Parekhās son, Swapan Parekh, was mentioned.
On page 24, Swapan confirmed that the image showed an Indian soldier inspecting villagers for hidden weapons, suspecting them to be Pakistani spies. He also noted that the firearm carried by the soldier, an SLR, was used by the Indian Army during the war.
Therefore, the viral claim that the image shows a Pakistani soldier checking for circumcision to identify Hindus during the Bangladesh War of Independence is false. The photo, taken by Kishore Parekh, showed Indian troops inspecting villagers suspected of being Pakistani spies during the 1971 war.
