CLAIM
A photo featuring an Indian Army soldier purportedly serving in adversely cold conditions has gone viral on social media.
The photo shows a man standing amid snow as icicles freeze around his neck, shoulders and face. It was shared on the Facebook page हिंदुस्थानी सेना (Hindustani Sena) and had acquired an interaction of over 3,700 with over 550 shares at last count.
The post was shared along with the caption: “हमारे जवान -5 माईनस डिर्गी मे भी अपना फर्ज निभाते है , और हम आराम से सो जाते हैं , यह अपना वतन बचाते है ,जय हिन्द जय भारत. (Our soldiers serve even under -5 degree conditions while we sleep peacefully. They save our nation... Jai Hind Jai Bharat!)”
The post was also shared heavily by other groups and individual users on Facebook:
TRUTH
A reverse image search of a key frame from the video yielded multiple results, which ultimately led to the most probable original source of the photo – a screengrab from the following YouTube video posted by user Jerry Mills:
The description of the video revealed that it was, in fact, filmed at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, on the southern shore of Lake Superior, in Michigan's magnificent Upper Peninsula.
The description also said that the person seen in the footage is a local surfer named Dan Schetter, one of a small group of locals who surf Lake Superior even in the most extreme conditions.
“This day was really extreme as the wind chill was -30. I was out there capturing footage for my Jerrysim series and almost got frostbite on my right hand trying to capture this moment as well as his ride into shore. His ice beard says it all about the severe cold,” the description read.
NOT THE FIRST
Fake images and videos have often been used over the past two years or so as that of Indian Army soldiers or of the Air Force. Here are a few recent examples:
Image of Indian Soldiers At Siachen
This photo, supposedly of two Indian Army soldiers braving extreme snow conditions in Siachen was, in fact, of Russian forces.
It was also shared by MP Kirron Kher and actress Shraddha Kapoor.
Kerala Floods Viral Photo of Indian Soldiers
An image had been widely circulated on social media during the Kerala floods rescue operations that showed men in uniform standing and eating food on banana leaves.
The picture was shared along with the message. "No time to sit and no complaints! The real heroes #Keralafloods".
A fact-check quoting army sources revealed that the pictures were not of Indian troops.
Nirmala Sitharaman’s Daughter in Air Force
A photo of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman alongside a woman in army fatigue went viral. While the image is a genuine one, the message with which it got shared in a section of the social media turned out to be false.
Read more about this story here.
IAF’s Diwali Celebration
Some videos circulating the social media recently showed the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force’s transport and fighter aircraft deploying anti-missile flares in beautiful formations.
The message accompanying these videos claims that the flares were deployed as part of Diwali celebrations this year.
The claim is false – the flares were not deployed for Diwali. The videos are, in fact, from different instances in the past, including the 2016 International Fleet Review (IFR) held in Visakhapatnam.
Read more about this story here.
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