Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Radicals vandalise the bust of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote Bangladesh’s national anthem, amid the violent protests.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Fact
Newschecker ran a reverse image search, which led us to the same photo in a Pune Mirror report, dated February 18, 2023, stating that the “missing” head of a Tagore statue from Dhaka University was recovered.
“The dismantled head of a sculpture of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, that was removed from the campus of Dhaka University, has been found by some passersby at the premises of the ongoing ‘Amar Ekushe’ Book Fair here, Shimul Kumbhkaar, leader of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Dhaka University, said on Saturday. On Thursday, Dhaka University (DU) authorities had reportedly removed the statue of Tagore, which the university students constructed next to the Raju Memorial sculpture. The students built the symbolic sculpture of Tagore on Tuesday to protest against the recent banning and censorship of books at the ‘Amar Ekushe’ Book Fair,” read the report.
Similar reports can be seen here, here and here, confirming that the viral image is of a broken head from a Tagore sculpture made by students to protest against censorship, which was removed from a Dhaka university in February 2023.
Result: Missing Context
Source
Pune Mirror report, February 19, 2023
News18 Hindi report, February 20, 2023
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Authors
Kushel HM is a mechanical engineer-turned-journalist, who loves all things football, tennis and films. He was with the news desk at the Hindustan Times, Mumbai, before joining Newschecker.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
