A still from the 2005 Indian drama Parzania - based on the Gujarat riots, has been shared from multiple Twitter handles with a caption that takes a dig at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)
The viral picture shows a mob wearing saffron scarves and armed with swords, cornering a man who can be seen pleading for his life.
Author and law professor Khaled Beydoun shared the image while tweeting, 'the RSS are terrorists. They've always been so. Now they control the government in India'.
Access the archived version of the viral tweet here.
The same screengrab has been shared from another verified Twitter handle, that of Abdul Rahmaan Al-Nassar, along with other pictures. Access the archived version of the tweet here.
Also read Video Of Currency Notes Found In Indore Viral With False Communal Spin
Fact Check
BOOM ran a reverse image search and found an article in business magazine Business World that has used the same image.
The caption on the image used in the article says 'A screengrab from Parzania inspired by the trues story of a little Parsi boy that went missing during the Gulbarga society massacre in Ahmedabad in 2002'. The article has wrongly mentioned Gulbarg society as Gulbarga society.
BOOM also found a New York Times article titled Using Bollywood Ideas to Portray Today's India which uses the same image albeit from another angle. The caption with the picture says 'A scene from "Parzania," one of the films playing in the "India Now" festival at the Museum of Modern Art'. The article was published in 2007.
Taking cue from here, we watched Parzania - a film based on the 2002 Gujarat riots - and compared a screenshot from the movie with the image shared in the tweet.
While we did not the exact frame, we found the same actor seen in the viral photo. Watch the video below.
Also read Video Showing Aid Denied To Hindus In Bangladesh Shared As India
Parzania is a film inspired by the true life story of a Parsi boy who disappeared after the February 28, 2002, Gulbarg society massacre which was one of the main events in 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. The incident had left 69 people dead.
The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in lead roles and traces the journey of the Pithawala family in trying to locate their son. The film was premiered at an international film festival in Goa in 2005 and was released nationwide in 2007.
