Does This Image Show Tagore’s Statue Being Recently Broken in Bangladesh? No!

The image dates back to February 2023 and has no connection to the ongoing political conflict in Bangladesh.

Fact-Check | The image is old and predates the political turmoil in Bangladesh.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

An image showing a desecrated statue of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore is being shared on social media platforms with users claiming that it shows a recent incident from Bangladesh.

What do social media posts say?: Posting the image, a Facebook user said, "Bangladesh national anthem, Amar_Sonar_Bangla, written by Ravindranath Tagore in 1906. Today, the students there have made this situation to their statue. Is this their education...?? (sic)."

You can view an archive of the post here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

This picture is being widely shared on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter). (You can view archives of such posts here, here, and here.)

Is this claim true?: The image is old and predates the ongoing political turmoil in Bangladesh. It dates back to February 2023, when vandalised pieces of Tagore's statue were found soon after it was built in Dhaka University.

How did we find that out?: On executing a reverse image search using the help of Google Lens, we found a news report published in 'Dhaka Tribune'.

• The report said that the statue of Tagore has returned to its place after Dhaka University authorities removed the statue, which was built to protest the banning of books.

• Students of the university found parts of the statue around the campus and managed to rebuild it next to the Raju Memorial Sculpture.

• The report mentioned that Tagore's sculpture was different this time, with a poster next to it that read "Nullify the Digital Security Act and stop all forms of censorship."

• The authorities at the university had removed the sculpture when it was built by students first.

The report was published on 18 February 2023.

(Source: Dhaka Tribune/Screenshot)

Other sources: A report in Prothom Alo English added that the statue was set up in protest against censorship on freedom of expression, censorship, and repression in the country.

• The 19-feet sculpture of Tagore was built by individuals who studied at the Institute of Fine Arts.

• The statue was made using different items such as bamboo, paper, and thermocol. It portrayed Tagore holding a nailed copy of his book 'Gitanjali' and showed him standing with his mouth taped.

• The statue reportedly went missing soon. The university's proctor AKM Golam Rabbani had criticised the installation of the statue.

The report was last updated on 16 February 2023.

(Source: Prothom Alo English/Screenshot)

Team WebQoof found visuals of Tagore's statue from different angles that were originally installed in the university and published on an unverified YouTube channel named 'Daily Bangla'.

• It was uploaded on 15 February 2023 and its caption when translated to English said, "Injured Rabindranath, bloody Gitanjali."

Conclusion: It is clear that the image is old and predates the ongoing turmoil in Bangladesh.

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