False: An old image shows Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru trying to kiss a woman.

By: Annie Priya
November 15 2022

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Context

The 130th birth anniversary of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on November 14 resulted in false narratives with derogatory captions being shared. One such post is of a man, who is allegedly Nehru, captured trying to kiss a woman. Nehru's birthday is celebrated as Children's Day. And one such Twitter post which shared a similar image had a caption reading, "Difference between #Think_Day & #Children_Day #Tharki_Day #Children's_Day." However, this is false. The man in the image is not Nehru but theater actor Silas Carson who played Nehru in a play.

In Fact

On conducting a reverse image search, we found a similar photograph published on December 15, 2013, by a website called 'History Workshop Journal,' a British academic history journal that publishes various reports and reviews on economic subjects, local history, and others. The article noted that it was a part of the show where an actor played Nehru's role in the 2013 play, ' Drawing the Line, exhibited at London's Hampstead Theatre.

The summary of the play can be found on the Hampstead Theatre, London website, which Howard Brenton directed, centered on Cyril Radcliffe and his part in the partition of India. According to the theater's website, Carson played Nehru's role, and actress Lucy Black played Edwina Mountbatten's role. We can spot the same photograph on the website under the section 'Video and Image Gallery.'

The Guardian published an article on December 10, 2013, reviewing the play 'Drawing the Line'. Several fact-checking organizations have debunked the same image since 2018, and it has resurfaced on social media.

The Verdict

An unrelated picture has been used to attack Nehru. Hence, we mark this claim as false.