A photo is being shared on social media claiming it as picture of a girl holding a placard urging people to boycott Bollywood films. Accusing Bollywood films of promoting Islam, the placard states, “Bollywood in India is not a place for entertainment but, for the promotion of Islam and Urdu. That’s why Islam is projected as a great religion in every movie, and you repeatedly get to hear the Islam words Ali, Maula, Khuda in every song. boycott Bollywood” (when translated from Hindi to English). Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo of a girl holding a placard urging people to boycott Bollywood films.
Fact: The photo shared in the post is a morphed one. The placard in the original photo states, “DON’T TELL ME HOW TO DRESS! TELL THEM NOT TO RAPE!!”. Following the Delhi Bus Gang rape incident on 16 December 2012, a protestor from Punjab’s Amritsar displayed this placard demanding justice for the 23-year-old victim. The photo has nothing to do with Bollywood. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the photo, a similar photo was found on the ‘Getty Images’ website published on 20 December 2012. But the text in the original placard states, “DON’T TELL ME HOW TO DRESS! TELL THEM NOT TO RAPE!!”. The description of the photo published on the Getty Images website states, “Indian students holds placards as they shout-slogans against a recent rape that took place in New Delhi during a protest in Amritsar on December 20, 2012. Despite an outpouring of anger at a student’s gang-rape, observers say misogyny remains widespread in India where sex assaults are often dismissed as “teasing” and victims find themselves blamed for attacks. The December 16 assault on a bus in New Delhi, which left a 23-year-old victim fighting for her life, has triggered nationwide revulsion and protests.”
Following the Delhi Bus Gang rape (Nirbhaya case) incident on 16 December 2012, a protestor from Punjab’s Amritsar displayed this placard expressing anguish over the incident. Several news websites published the same photo with a similar description in December 2012. They can be seen here and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the photo shared in the post is morphed.
To sum it up, a morphed picture is being shared as picture of a girl holding a placard urging people to boycott Bollywood films.
