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| - Fact Check: This viral photo from Kerala rescue is not of Indian Army
The devastating floods in Kerala have caused a loss of more than 350 lives. Various agencies have been deployed for rescue, including the Indian army and the NDRF.
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India Today Fact Check
This photo shows soldiers of the Philippine Army Special Forces group in a remote base camp.
The devastating floods in Kerala have caused a loss of more than 350 lives. Various agencies have been deployed for rescue, including the Indian army and the NDRF.
The work done by these agencies to put life back on the track during heavy flooding is being applauded widely online and offline.
But then, there's an image circulating on social media that shows men in uniform standing and eating food on banana leaves.
The message along with the photo reads "No time to sit and no complaints! The real heroes #Keralafloods".
The photo has also been shared by Dr. Palak Verma, national secretary of the Indian Youth Congress and Kantu Agasthya, a political correspondent at TV9 Telugu.
No time to sit
No complaints!!
The Real Heroes #Keralafloods#KeralaFloodRescue pic.twitter.com/3ODDKyA59d Dr.Palak Verma(Didi) (@DrPalakVerma) 19 August 2018
No time to sit, and no complaints !
The real heroes everywhere #Keralafloods #KeralaFloodRescue pic.twitter.com/yuC1jzXIWv Kantu Agasthya (@kantuagasthya) 19 August 2018
But not everyone was convinced that the image depicted Indian troops.
Rajorshi Aditya, a social-media user, warned: "Don't take me otherwise or start trolling me either but I think that this photo needs verification".
Salish George wrote, "Don't spread fake images, its not Indian army."
India Today fact-checked the images as doubts mounted. Indian Army PRO Col Aman Anand confirmed to us that the image is not of Indian Army personnel.
Army sources told the fact-checking team the pictures were not of Indian troops. This is how they validated their response:
- Black insignia (inverted U) as seen on the right arm of the soldiers is put on airborne divisions. India does not have an airborne division but has a para-brigade unit. And the uniform worn by the para brigade is not similar to the uniform seen in the image
- Indian army never serves food on banana leaves. Spoons and saucers/plates are carried by the troops
- But in some South East Asian countries, food to troops is served on banana leaves. They consider it a matter of pride
- Soldiers in the picture are seen wearing inverted chevrons. Indian military doesnt wear inverted chevrons
Our search results showed that the image is of the Philippine army special forces group. Though we do not have any official confirmation from the organisation. Links to our searches can be seen here.
http://forum.philboxing.com/
http://www.angelfire.com/ga/
The description along with the original images read "Here members of the Philippine army special forces group operating in a remote base camp chows for lunch."
We also saw plenty of images of Indian army and NDRF jawans working tirelessly in Kerala floods. Still, some online users had picked photos of the Philippine troops to praise the rescue efforts down south. Surprising indeed!
#Update #KeralaFloods2018 Captain Syed Ashad Ahmed of 8 Engineer Regiment, established captive ferry to rescue 57 civilians from Chngannur. #IndianArmy made 15 bridges, provided relief material to 20 villages, meals ready to eat to 1200 civilians. #OpMadad @PIB_India pic.twitter.com/5plDy3x7z3 ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) 20 August 2018
ALSO READ | UAE offers Rs 700 crore aid to flood-ravaged Kerala, says CM
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