An image of a differently-abled man photographed with his family members in a refugee camp in Bangladesh is being falsely linked to the recently proposed Population Control Bill, by Uttar Pradesh.
UP, the most populous state of the country, has proposed a bill by which it seeks to incentivise population control and impose strict measures for those couples who have three or more children. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has written to the Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission, seeking removal of certain proposed norm from the draft of its Population Control Bill.
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The photo shows a portrait of a man sitting on a wheelchair and his family members. It has been shared by advocate Prashant Patel Umrao, who has been called out in the past for spreading communally-charged fake news. Umrao wrote a distasteful caption in Hindi which translates to, "While he can't even walk, he was able to produce 8 kids. But providing for their food and employment is government's responsibility." (sic)
(Original text in Hindi: "जब इसकी 2 टांगें काम नहीं कर रही तब इसनें *** के दम पर 8 बच्चे कर दिए!" पर इनको राशन-रोजगार देना सरकार की जिम्मेदारी है?)
Several replies to Patel's tweet show that the image has been linked to the proposed population control bill in UP. Click here and here.
While the caption of the tweet is cryptic yet it has been shared by pro-right wing Hindutva pages who have linked the image and the narrative to the bill.
The image has been shared on Twitter and Facebook by other users as well.
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Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search on the photograph and found that the image is from a Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
The image has been featured on Dodho, a photography magazine based in Barcelona, Spain. According to the description of the image, "A portrait of Mohammad Alamgir, 40, and his family. Mohammad disabled due to polio, fled with his family from recent violence in Myanmar, and has taken shelter in Kutupalong refugee camp, Cox's Bazar."
The image has also been documented on international stock photo website Getty images by Probal Rashid on March 6, 2017.
Documentary photographer and photojournalist Probal Rashid was finalist of the May 2017's Edition. This photo is part of a series titled, "The Rohingyas: A People Without A Home" which was supported by The Biennial Grant, a photography stipend project for budding photographers worldwide. The Grant's recipient is selected by the curators of the Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography.
BOOM spoke to Probal Rashid who confirmed that the image was clicked by him. He said, "I took this picture on March 6, 2017. Few months later Mohammad Alamgir had died in Kutupalong refugee camp."
Kutupalong refugee camp, in Ukhia, Cox's Bazar is considered as the World's largest refugee camp, shelter home to 880,000 Rohingya refugees (as of February, 2021). The Rohingyas is a persecuted community who were forced to flee from Myanmar after an ethnic violence in 2017.
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