Congress uses 2008 image from Bangladesh to attack Modi government

On December 4, the official Twitter account of Indian National Congress tweeted an infographic that includes an image of a child labourer with the following Hindi text, “Seven crore children have been engulfed in poverty due to coronavirus pandemic. Children’s education has suffered due to not attending schools and families are facing a financial burden. The government needs to urgently take steps for the children’s future.”

कोरोना संकट और बीजेपी संकट के कारण देश की अर्थव्यवस्था से लेकर जनता तक प्रभावित होने लगी है। कोरोना संकट से 7 करोड़ बच्चों पर गरीबी का संकट छा गया है। मोदी सरकार देश को गरीबी के संकट से निकालने के लिये जल्द कदम उठाये। pic.twitter.com/F6AkyGEJeq

— Congress (@INCIndia) December 4, 2020

This has been posted by several Twitter and Facebook users including more than 10 official Congress accounts on Facebook.

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Old image from Bangladesh

Alt News cropped the image used on the poster and was led to multiple links that carried the original picture. A second reverse image search on TinEye led us to the website Felix Features, a Norway-based picture agency.

The image in question was uploaded in 2008. Its caption says, “Children at a brick factory in Fatullah”, which is a town in Bangladesh. The copyright on the image mentions — ‘Panos Pictures/ Felix Features’.

A subsequent search on the website of London-based photo agency Panos Pictures confirms that the image was shot in Bangladesh.

Thus, Congress used a 2008 image of a child labourer in Bangladesh to attack the BJP government.