No, This Is Not A Photo Of Pakistani Soldiers Signalling A Truce

An image showing Pakistani soldiers waving a white flag as an Indian soldier looks on in Jammu and Kashmir’s Gurez Valley is viral on Facebook with false claims that the former signaled a truce.

BOOM found that the photograph was originally taken when the Indian Army was handing over the mortal remains of a seven year old, who drowned in the Kishanganga river of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to the Pakistan Army.

The image has been captioned on Facebook as, “This is the result of our valiant army's surgery (surgical strikes). Pakistan's army is calling for truce as they wave a white flag and begging for peace. Be proud of our army and say Jai Jawan.”

The photograph has been shared on multiple Facebook pages with the same narrative in the wake of the Indian government's big announcement to reorganise the state.

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Fact Check

BOOM ran a reverse image search and found that the incident happened in July this year, when the Indian Army retrieved the body of a seven year old Abid Sheikh from PoK who drowned in the Kishanganga river. Abid’s body crossed over to the Indian territory because of the currents of the river.

The same was reported by multiple news portals including IndiaToday, Freepresskashmir.com, The Times of India and Gulf News.

Below is an excerpt from India Today's article on the same.

"Earlier, the Pakistan Army had refused to take the body despite repeated attempts from authorities on this side. On Tuesday, a video message was accessed wherein the family members of the deceased were seen appealing Prime Minister Imran Khan to help them in bringing the body of their son. "

An appeal was made via Twitter to Imran Khan, Pakistan's Prime Minister and the Indian authorities to return the boy's body.

The Indian Army handed over the body to their Pakistani counterparts after informing them on through a hotline within 24 hours. Below are tweets with images of the handover process.