Fact Check: Viral Photo Claiming Rajiv, Rahul Gandhi Reading Islamic Prayers At Indira Gandhi's Funeral Is False

A social media post claiming that Rahul Gandhi and his father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi read ‘qalma’ (Islamic prayers) in front of Indira Gandhi’s dead body has gone viral. The photo with the fake caption time and time again resurfaces on the social media and is even shared by a BJP minister. The post gained massive traction on the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31.

Claims

In the old photo, along with Rajiv Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and former Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao can be seen.

The image was first shared by a Twitter page called Ananda with a caption in Hindi that translated, “Across Indira’s corpse, Rahul and Rajiv are reading qalma, but our country continues to believe that they are Brahmins”

The viral post was also shared by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on his Twitter page.

The post was also shared by the Facebook page called India Israel Connect. The caption of the post said why is Rajeev Gandhi offering prayers in an Islamic way when P. V. Narasimha Rao is doing in Hindu way.

Fact Check

A Google reverse search of the image shows that the photo clicked is not from the funeral of Indira Gandhi but was at the last rites of Afghan leader and freedom fighter Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as Bacha Khan.

The Gandhi family had visited Peshwar, to pay their last respect to Bacha Khan. International news organised such as The New York Times and Los Angels Times also confirmed that the Gandhi family was present at the funeral of Bacha Khan in 1988.

Gaffar Khan died at the age of 98 on January 20, 1988. With the help of reverse image search, it was found out that the image was first posted by a politician of North Waziristan, Mohsin Dawar on January 27, 2016.

The last rites of Indira Gandhi were indeed performed according to Hindu rituals.

Rajeev Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Narsihma Rao at Bacha Khan's funeral
Pic from #BachakhanAwKhudaiKhidmatgari vol 2 pic.twitter.com/rUxOXyaJXS

— Mohsin Dawar (@mjdawar) January 26, 2016

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