Cong Passes Off Image of Child Labour in Bangladesh As From India

The image is from Bangladesh and was taken by photographer GMB Akash while he was documenting child labour there.

The Indian National Congress shared an image of a child performing labour on its social media handles to take a dig at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for the rising concern over children being left in poverty due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The image, however, is from Bangladesh and was taken by photographer GMB Akash in 2008, when he was documenting child labour in his country.

CLAIM

The image was shared by INC on its social media handles.

The image was also shared by social media handles of Congress in several states, like Delhi, Bihar, Haryana and Gujarat, among others.

The image was shared by users on Facebook as well.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

A reverse image search led us to several websites that had used the image in the context of child labour in India.

We found the original image on Felix Features, an independent picture agency based in Oslo, Norway.

The image is part of award-winning international photographer from Bangladesh, GMB Akash’s photo story, ‘Born to Work,’ which documents child labour in Bangladesh.

The image was taken at a brick factory in Fatullah, a town in the outskirts of Dhaka. The caption states that “for each thousand bricks they (the children) carry, they earn the equivalent of 0.9 USD.”

We also found the image on GMB Akash’s official website and photo agency, Panos Pictures, which states that the picture was taken in 2008.

While Congress used an old picture from Bangladesh to depict growing concerns of COVID-19’s impact on children, experts have often stated that the pandemic has made children more vulnerable to child labour.

“The numbers related to child labour in India were bleak even before the pandemic. Census 2011 data suggests that the total number of child labourers in India between 5-14 years of age is 4.35 million (main workers) and 5.76 million (marginal workers) — a total of 10.11 million... The ongoing pandemic has augmented the existing causes of child labour, as well as added new ones,” writes Puja Marwaha, CEO of CRY (Child Rights and You), in an article on The Quint.

(With inputs from SM Hoax Slayer)

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