Images of Hindus Attacked in Pakistan Falsely Linked with Communal Clashes in West Bengal’s Telinipara

A total of 129 people have been arrested so far over their alleged involvement in clashes that erupted between two communities in West Bengal’s Telinipara after members of one community allegedly taunted the other as “corona”.

On May 13, Twitter user Anand Kumar posted a set of three images with the caption, “पश्चिम बंगाल के हुगली जिले के तेलीपारा में दलित हिन्दुओं के घरों को जलाया जा रहा है। (Houses of Dalit Hindus are being burnt in Telipara in Hooghly district of West Bengal -translated)”. The images show a bleeding man and woman and burning homes.

A few more Facebook users posted the images with the same claim.

Fact-check

Image of the injured man and woman

Alt News found that the images are unrelated to the Telinipara clashes. With the help of Google reverse image search, we found that the first two images of a bleeding man and woman were tweeted by Twitter handle Voice of Pakistan Minority on May 11. “Gulab and his wife were attacked by neighbourhood goons in Rahimyar khan, Punjab,” said the tweet. It also alleged that Gulab’s wife was sexually assaulted in public.

On May 12, Dubai-based Gulf News reported, “Blood running down Gulab’s face and his wife equally injured and her clothes torn, screamed and begged for help after being attacked in Pakistan allegedly because they come from a Hindu background.”

Moreover, we found a tweet by Pakistan’s Punjab police which said that the couple was injured in a clash over a land dispute between them and a Muslim family. The medical reports of the injured are awaited after which further legal action will be taken, according to the tweet.

Image of the burning house

The image of the burning house was posted by Facebook page Pakistani Hindu Refugee on May 11. It claimed that around 21 Hindu homes were burnt in Tharparkar district in Pakistan’s Sindh region. “The source says that some people, including children, are burnt and in critical condition. This is the condition of Pakistani Hindu in Pakistan.” reads the post.

While Alt News couldn’t independently verify the images of the burning houses, the photographs of the injured couple are from Pakistan. Therefore, unrelated images of an alleged attack on Hindu minorities in Pakistan were passed off as visuals of clashes between two communities in Telinipara, West Bengal.