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| - Fact Check: Was this Muslim man flogged in a crowded stadium in India?
Picture of security personnel publicly flogging a man tied to a wooden frame is being shared on social media as an example of atrocities on Muslims in India.
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India Today Fact Check
The viral photo is 40 years old and from Pakistan. Journalists were flogged for opposing Zia’s military dictatorship.
A picture of security personnel publicly flogging a man tied to a wooden frame is being shared on social media as example of atrocities on Muslims in India. The picture shows a crowded stadium where the incident is taking place.
The caption in Bengali, when translated, says, "Allah save us. Indian Muslims are facing torture and oppression. Allah, please save Muslims in India. Ameen."
Among others, Facebook user Rashedul Islam Rushdi posted this misleading claim on July 4. This post has been shared by more than 16,000 users till the time of filing this story. The archived version of the post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that it is a 40-year-old picture from Pakistan.
Another post by Facebook user 'Khalid Bin Walid' with the same claim has already been shared by more than 42,000 users.
Upon reverse searching the viral photo, we found many news articles from Pakistan where the photo was used. As per an article of Tribune, the man being flogged was an anti-Zia journalist. The photo was taken at Karachi's Karki Stadium and dates back to 1978. At that time, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the President of Pakistan.
It was the time when some Pakistani journalists were flogged publicly for protesting against Zia's military dictatorship.
A report from The Dawn also talked about flogging of four journalists in the Zia regime on May 13, 1978.
Masoodullah Khan, Nasir Zaidi, Khawar Naeem and Iqbal Jafferi were the journalists flogged publicly for fighting for the freedom of press.
Hence, it is clear that the post is misleading and the photo is not from India but Pakistan.
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