Digitally created newspaper clipping shared as 4,000 RSS workers arrested under the IPC Sec 377 in 1971 - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 30, 2021
A newspaper clipping with an article titled – ‘4000 RSS workers arrested’ is being shared on social media.  In the posted article, it can be read that the RSS workers were arrested under the IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting in front of the Parliament house for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. While the posted article looks like a satire, it is being shared by multiple users on social media criticizing the RSS. It is being shared in the context of PM Modi’s recent comments in Bangladesh regarding his participation in the Bangladesh freedom agitation in India. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Newspaper clipping from 1971 shows 4000 RSS workers were arrested under the IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting for the liberation of Bangladesh.
Fact: It is a digitally created fake newspaper clipping. While there are reports about Jan Sangh protesting in support of the liberation of Bangladesh, there is no evidence that 4,000 RSS workers were arrested under IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched for the news mentioned in the newspaper clipping, no such news was found in the search results. No credible reports were found regarding the arrest of 4,000 RSS workers under IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting for the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971. On doing Google Reverse Image of the posted photo, it was found that a similar template was available for creating fake newspaper clippings on the ‘fodey.com’ website. The posted clip might have been created using such a template. Also, 30 August 1971 was a Monday, not Sunday (as mentioned in the photo).
Using the template on the ‘fodey.com’ website, anyone can create a similar-looking newspaper clipping with their own title and content. FACTLY tried to create the posted newspaper clipping using the template on the ‘fodey.com’ website; the process followed can be seen below.
While there is no evidence that 4,000 RSS workers were arrested under the IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting in 1971, there are reports about Jan Sangh protesting in support of Bangladesh’s liberation. Many social media users have posted the article published by ‘The Times of India’ in August 1971 with the title – ‘10,000 Jana Sangh men court arrest in Delhi’. Also, ‘The Times of India’ has mentioned it in their recent article on the issue with respect to Modi’s comments in Bangladesh. The video related to Jana Sangh’s demonstration rally is available on the AP Archives website.
The mention of satyagraha held by Jan Sangh in August 1971 in support of Bangladesh’s liberation can be also found in the citation of ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour for Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee’.
To sum it up, a digitally created fake newspaper clipping is being falsely shared as 4000 RSS workers arrested under the IPC section 377 for performing unnatural sexual acts while protesting for the liberation of Bangladesh.