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Image Credit: Twitter/Shiv Arror
Viral Video Of Indian-Chinese Soldiers Clashing Over A Barbed Wire Fence: Check The Facts Behind The Matter
Writer: Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
Arunachal Pradesh, 18 Dec 2022 12:22 PM GMT
Editor : Bharat Nayak |
As the founding editor, Bharat had been heading the newsroom during the formation years of the organization and worked towards editorial policies, conceptualizing and designing campaign strategies and collaborations. He believes that through the use of digital media, one could engage the millennial's in rational conversations about pertinent social issues, provoking them to think and bring a behavioral change accordingly.
Creatives : Jakir Hassan
A journalist at heart loves the in-depth work of reporting, writing, editing, research, and data analysis. A digital and social media enthusiast.
The terrain where the incident occurred was snowy and barren from December 7, 2022, to December 12, 2022. However, there is no snow and only greenery on the mountainside slopes; the viral footage is thought to be older.
A video showing a clash between Indian Army soldiers and the Chinese People's Liberation Army has been widely circulated across WhatsApp and social media platforms after the recent clash between the two forces along the (Line of Actual Control) LAC in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh.
On December 9, soldiers from the two sides clashed in an area called Yangtse in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh. Home Minister Rajnath Singh notified the same in parliament on December 13, claiming that there were no severe casualties on the Indian side.
Tawang's clash occurred two years after the encounter between the two forces in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh in June 2020.
Claim:
The viral video shows two groups of soldiers fighting across a barbed wire fence separating them. The Indian soldiers were seen fighting back, hitting the alleged Chinese soldiers with rods and sticks. The social media posts claimed that Indian soldiers were successful in repelling the Chinese forces making a retreat over the barrier.
The Logical Indian received multiple requests on WhatsApp on our Fact Check helpline number to clarify the location where the video was shot,
Screengrabs of requests received on the TLI WhatsApp fact check number
India Today circulated the video with the caption, "India's sharp, aggressive lesson to China," published on December 14, 2022.
Shiv Aroor, Senior Executive Editor of India Today, tweeted, "An undated video of a clash between Indian & Chinese soldiers being shared widely in the context of the Tawang incident. Not clear where or when this video is from, but not from December 9 incident."
Other social media users circulated the video with similar claims about its location.
Fact Check:
We conducted a keyword search with the video's description and came across a report by CNN published on December 15, 2022. After speaking to several experts, the CNN report notes that the video did not depict a recent clash due to lack of visible snow and was filmed on September 28, 2021, as told by a serving India Military officer.
We scanned through the video and noticed this stone wall seen in the video. We then checked Google Maps through the Tawang sector and noted a wall-like structure at coordinate points 27.778268, 91.989075.
The wall-like structure is seen in proximity to the location of Holly Water Falls- Chumig Gyatser at coordinates 27.775940 and 91.982385. The waterfalls are the Chumi Gyatse falls in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
We then scanned through the closeby locations to the stonewall seen in the video to identify the peaks seen in the video. At the start of the viral video, a set of mountains in a distinct shape can be seen. We noticed these peaks' patterns through a Google Earth Pro search.
The location of the peaks is identified as 27°46'40"N 91°59'18" E.
We also noticed that a river could be seen winding its way along the mountain. The location we came across on Google Earth Pro also showed this river winding along the mountain.
We made a visual which shows the peaks visible in the viral video, the river winding along the mountain, and the stonewall.
We used Sentinel Hub, a map tool that noted the weather patterns in the area of Chumi Gyatse falls in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
As per CNN and other media outlets, the video is older as there is no snow on the sides of the mountain.
The Sentinel Hub tool showed that on December 7, 2022, and December 12, 2022, the terrain was snowy and barren. Meanwhile, in the viral video, the mountain peaks can be seen as devoid of snow and with plenty of greenery.
Conclusion:
We found that the viral video shows the clash between Indian and Chinese soldiers taking place in the proximity of the Chumi Gyatse falls in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh. The terrain where the incident occurred was snowy and barren from December 7, 2022, to December 12, 2022. Given that there is no snow and only greenery on the mountainside slopes, the viral footage is thought to be older.
Fact Check website Boom did this story first. Click here to read in detail.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343.
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