Kiren Rijiju’s tweet uses old photo, misleads unwitting citizens.
The Law & Justice Minister tweets old photo and several media outlets uses the same photo claiming that it was taken during Kiren Rijiju's visit to Tawang.
Claim
Yangtse area in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh is fully secured now due to adequate deployment of the brave jawans of Indian Army.
Rating
Explanation
In the ongoing winter session of the Parliament, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh informed the Parliament that Chinese Army transgressed the the Line of Actual Control at Yangtse, Tawang of Arunachal Pradesh on 9th December but was successfully pushed back by the Indian Army.
This created a political storm which led to sharp criticism of the Government by the opposition parties, who wanted to discuss the issue in Parliament, but were not permitted to, which resulted in disruption of the Parliament over several sessions. On 17th December, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Law and Justice, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh tweeted a photo supposedly with the Indian army in Tawang.
What’s the truth?
When we did a reverse image search, we found that the image is actually from 2019. Interestingly, Kiren Rijiju tweeted the picture in October 2019 when he spent Diwali with the Indian Army’s infantry regiment, the Arunachal Scouts.
The Arunachal Scouts is an infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It is guarding India's border with China in Arunachal Pradesh. It specializes in mountain warfare. Happy to be with them on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. pic.twitter.com/7KAHewrp4o
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 29, 2019
The recent Chinese transgression into India’s territory had led to spreading of many old videos as though it was taken from Tawang during the latest clash between Indian & Chinese Army.
Read More: Old, undated videos and images shared as recent visuals from December 9 clash
Kiren Rijiju’s usage of this image in his recent tweet and the usage of the same photo by many news outlets led many to believe that the Minister had visited Tawang recently, as there had not been any such official photos released, and at this point, it is unclear whether the Minister had visited the entrenched
Union minister Kiren Rijiju visits #Yangtse, #Tawang where Indian & PLA troops clashed along the LAC on December 9. Minister says, “Yangtse area in Tawang, #ArunachalPradesh is fully secured now due to adequate deployment of the brave jawans of Indian Army.” pic.twitter.com/siKPVYZ40R
— Pooja Mehta (@pooja_news) December 17, 2022
Union Minister @KirenRijiju visits Yangtse area in #Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh; says the area is fully secured now due to adequate deployment of brave jawans of Indian Army; He also slams Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for insulting Indian Army, says he is damaging nation's image. pic.twitter.com/IblkUVUxmt
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) December 17, 2022
Right wing website OpIndia had written an article in which it claimed that the image was taken with the Army soldiers during his recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang.
Kiren Rijiju visits Yangtse in Tawang where Chinese military clashed with Indian soldiers, says Arunachal Pradesh is fully securedhttps://t.co/pZy30RDDzW
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) December 17, 2022
The article said “Days after Indian soldiers clashed with the Chinese military in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh, Arunachal MP and law minister Kiren Rijiju reached the clash point today. Posting photographs with the Indian armed forces at the Yangtse area at the Indo-China border, Rijiju said that Arunachal Pradesh is fully secured after additional troops have been deployed.”
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju meets Indian Army jawans in Tawang.
"Yangtse area in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh is fully secured now due to adequate deployment of the brave jawans of Indian Army," he wrote on Twitter.
Srinjoy Chowdhury shares more details with @kritsween. pic.twitter.com/VGBppJaG22
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 17, 2022
Conclusion
Usage of old photo in Kiren Rijiju’s tweet and subsequent reporting by many news outlets using the image misled unwitting citizens that the photo was taken recently.
