Amidst the ongoing conflict between Israel and Gaza (here, here), several photos are going viral on social media (here, here, and here) with the claim that they show thousands rallying at Sohrawardi Park in Kolkata, India, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Let’s verify the claim made in the post through this article.
Claim: The photos show thousands rallying in solidarity with the Palestinian people at Sohrawardi Park in Kolkata, India.
Fact: The viral photos actually show a protest held at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 12 April 2025. The event, known as the “March for Gaza,” attracted approximately 100,000 participants who gathered to protest against Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip. The photos have no connection to Kolkata, India. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon closer observation, we noticed that the viral photos carry a watermark of the Bangladeshi media outlet Somoy News. Taking a cue from this, we performed a Google keyword search and found that the same photos (archived) were uploaded by Somoy News on their official Facebook page on 12 April 2025. The caption stated that it was a “March for Gaza,” mentioning that millions had gathered at Sohrawardi Park in the procession, with the entire area echoing with slogans.
According to reports (here, here, and here) dated 12 April 2025, a massive crowd marched from Gulistan’s Zero Point to Suhrawardy Park in Dhaka as part of the “March for Gaza” programme to show solidarity with Palestinians. The reports featured photos similar to the viral ones, showing people holding Palestinian flags at the Raju Memorial. Around 100,000 people had gathered at Suhrawardy Park in the Dhaka University area to condemn Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.
We took the Raju Memorial in Dhaka as a clue and searched for the location on Google Maps. We found that the statue seen in the viral photo matches the Raju Memorial in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where people are seen standing on the statue holding Palestinian flags.
To sum up, photos of a protest held in solidarity with Palestine in Dhaka, Bangladesh, are falsely shared as those from Kolkata.
