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Old Photos Resurfaces To Claim That Chinese PLA Killed 300 Indian Soldiers In recent Tawang Clash
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 11:59 AM GMT
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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 images viral on social media claiming that they show a recent scuffle between India and China at Tawang, wherein PLA killed 300 Indian soldiers, are baseless. These images are old and first surfaced on the internet in 2021.
A recent altercation between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on December 9 in the Yangtse area of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) led to minor injuries to a few soldiers from both sides.
Against the same backdrop, several users have shared a set of two old and undated images claiming to show Indian soldiers engaged in a clash and are being held captive by China. The photographs are viral, claiming that last week at least 300 Indian soldiers were killed by the Chinese troops.
One of the photos showed Indian soldiers near a heavy-flowing river being followed by a group of uniformed men allegedly belonging to the Chinese PLA. Another photo showed some Indian soldiers on their knees and holding their ears, being looked upon by Chinese troops.
A user posted the images on Twitter and wrote, "China kills over 300 indian troops".
Another user wrote, "China once again kills over 300 Indian troops on December 9 and Indian government tried to hide it from Indian public."
Claim:
In a recent scuffle between India and China at Tawang, 300 Indian soldiers were killed by PLA.
Fact Check:
The Logical Indian Fact Check verified the claim and found it false. We started our investigation by ascertaining whether the images were authentic and of the recent Indo-China clash. We conducted a Google reverse image search, leading us to a Twitter post by a user named '@louischeung_hk' shared on November 7, 2021. He had shared a set of four photos with a caption, "Newly released Images of Indian and Chinese troops face off in the #GalwanValley on the disputed border between #China and #India last year. This is not a #Bollywood movie. It's clear who wins. #IndianArmy".
Two of the four photos shared by the user were the same as in the Twitter posts claiming to be of the December 9 scuffle.
Further, the same images were shared on Twitter by China's state-affiliated media journalist Shen Shiwei on November 7, 2021, alleging that they show Indian soldiers were taken captive by PLA in Galwan valley, Ladakh, in June 2020.
We also found another image in the viral post in a tweet of Shen Shiwei dated October 9 2021. The caption reads, "New pictures of last June's #Galwan clash emerged on social media, showing injured Indian soldiers captured by Chinese PLA. Indian soldiers violated the newly-reached consensus and launched provocative attacks against Chinese personnel, leading to serious physical conflicts." We continued our research by looking for verification of whether any casualties were reported in the recent altercation between India and China on December 9 at LAC."
According to Economic Times, Rajnath Singh, the Defence Minister, informed the Parliament on December 13 that no serious injuries were reported from the clash and that both sides suffered minor injuries. Not more than six Indian soldiers were injured and were airlifted to the 151 base hospital in Basistha of Guwahati in Assam.
Further, corroborating the Defence Minister's statement, the information provided by the relevant authorities of the Army did not mention any casualty. They noted that Indian soldiers contested the Chinese PLA "in a firm and resolute manner" and "compelled" them to return to their camps after the scuffle.
According to The Hindu, China released a statement after the altercation quoting PLA's Senior Colonel Long Shaohua, the spokesperson for the Western Theatre Command. An excerpt from the report reads, "the Chinese military was conducting "a regular patrol in the Dongzhang area" on "the Chinese side of the LAC" when the troops were "blocked by the Indian Army illegally crossing" the line."
Furthermore, BOOM, a fact-checking website, reached out to Lieutenant Colonel MS Rawat, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Indian Army. He denied any information regarding 300 Indian soldiers being killed in the clash and stated, "The Indian Army has not released any such news about the death of soldiers. This is untrue."
With the facts mentioned above, we can conclude that the images viral on social media claiming that they show a recent scuffle between India and China at Tawang, wherein PLA killed 300 Indian soldiers, are baseless. These images are old and first surfaced on the internet in 2021.
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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