An image of a Kolkata based gender rights activist carrying a placard which says she will neither disrobe herself or give the documents during an anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protest rally has been mischievously morphed and revived.
The edited image shows the activist hanging a placard which reads in Bangla, "Will disrobe myself but will not give documents. No NRC CAA NPR". (Original text in Bangla: শাড়ি কাপড় খুলে দেবো তাও Dpcoments দেবো না, NONRCCAANPR) The same morphed image is doing the rounds on Facebook with netizens calling out the distasteful banner.
BOOM was able to identify the gender rights activist and found that in the original photograph, she was carrying a placard which read, "Will not disrobe myself, will not give documents."
The morphed image has been shared on Facebook with a caption in Bangla which reads, "The poet already told us that individuals with paraphilia are apt to be Leftists. Discussing Lenin is their sole motive; have you ever seen them raising their voice for the nation? No, you won't, because for them, their neighbor Abdul is more precious than their own father. They flourish here but would only praise about China and Pakistan, and now the time has come to sweep them out."
The post can be seen
here and archived
here.
Another post calls out Leftist mindset of CAA protesters based on the edited image.
The same doctored image has also been shared on Twitter with a text in Bangla that reads, "They will take off their clothes, but they will not show their valid identity documents!! So are they illegitimate children, is this why they are so afraid? As I have said before, I am saying again that comrade leftist means psychopath. Simply put, if you are not psycho and perverted, you cannot be a leftist maku."
(Original text in Bangla: শাড়ি কাপড় খুলে দেবে তবুও এরা নিজের পরিচয়ের বৈধ কাগজপত্র দেখাবে না!! তবে কি এরা অবৈধ বাপের সন্তান তাই এত ভয়? আগেও বলেছি, আবারও বলছি কমরেড বামপন্থী মানেই হলো সাইকোপ্যাথ। সোজা কথায় সাইকো ও বিকৃতমনষ্ক, বিকৃতকামী না হলে বামপন্থী মাকু হওয়া যায় না।)
The Tweet can be seen
here; it is archived
here.
BOOM was able to ascertain that the text in the placard has been edited to claim that the activist calls for disrobing herself.
We ran a reverse image search on the photograph and was directed to a post by activist Dipanwita Paul. Paul, gender rights activist from Kolkata, shared the original image on her Facebook account featuring her and clarified that it has been distastefully edited.
The original placard reads in Bangla, "We will not disrobe ourselves; we will not give our documents, NONRCCAANPR, NOTGBILL" (শাড়ি কাপড় খুলবো না, Documents দেবো না, NONRCCAANPR, NOTGBILL). In the edited image, the 'খুলবো না' (will not open) phrase is replaced with 'খুলে দেবো তাও' (will still open it).
In a Facebook post, she Paul clarified that she had made the poster in support of the transgender community of the country. She wrote, "Quite naturally rapists would see the 'No' as 'Yes.' In India, transgender individuals have been protesting against the then Transgender Bill well before the anti-CAA-NRC-NPR protests. The recent Transgender Bill allowed the procedure of testifying transgender individuals in front of doctors and administrative agents by undressing themselves. Can you think of me or you standing naked in front of unknown persons to let them decide whether we are 'imitating' or not? No, because your body is precious and not the toy of a state (till now). First of all, the state that intends to determine citizen's gender by undressing and examining them – is nothing but Fascists and Rapist State. Secondly, this is an entirely baseless and unscientific concept that every transgender individual would carry a mark of their gender upon their bodies. Consequently, this stupid and transphobic state's humiliated and marginalized transpersons stood against the upright anti-minority legislation like NRC, CAA, and NPR. They (minorities) will be the first to go to detention centers, and you would know about it if you are familiar with the recent Assam. I made this poster and went there as a representative of their resistance. The Chaddi IT cell brothers poorly edited that picture with B612 and exhibited their Fascist and Rapist mindset. I am not surprised, rather laughed and saying to IT cell brothers that I will not show documents even if I die. Inqilab Zindabad, #NoNRC #NoTGAct"
The post can be seen
here and archived
here.
Paul can be seen carrying a similar poster with the same text in another protest march.
BOOM also reached out to Paul who informed that the photograph was taken during an event of Feminist Intervention event in Kolkata in January, last year.
