This photo does not show former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi's funeral

The image was shared on Facebook here on August 14, 2021 in a group with roughly 45,000 members.

Rajiv Gandhi and his son, the politician Rahul Gandhi, are circled in the image, which shows them at a funeral, standing in front of a coffin among a large group of people. Their palms are folded on top of another, facing inward, in a form of prayer. 

The Hindi-language text superimposed on the image reads: "This photo was found with much difficulty. Rahul and Rajiv Gandhi are reading Kalima in front of Indira Gandhi's dead body but still the people of our nation think that they are Hindu."

The Six Kalimas -- which are part of the Quran -- are recited during Islamic prayer. 

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Screenshot of the misleading post taken on August 19, 2021

Both Indira and Rajiv Gandhi had inter-religious marriages. Indira Gandhi's husband, Feroze, was Parsi whereas she was Hindu. 

Rajiv Gandhi's wife Sonia was born in Italy and raised in a Roman Catholic family. This has often led to questions about the religious identities of the family members, for example here on Indian news analysis website Daily O. 

The post was also shared by several other accounts on Facebook, such as here, here and here. 

The claim, however, is false.

The photo does not match news photos and archival footage of Indira Gandhi's funeral; and it has been shared in posts about Rajiv and Rahul Gandhi at the funeral of independence activist Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, also known as 'Bacha Khan'. 

Gandhi's funeral

Indira Gandhi died on October 31, 1984, and the family followed Hindu traditions at her cremation, as seen in the photos published on AFP Forum here. 

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Screenshot from AFP Forum, taken 19 August 2021 ( Screenshot of Indira Gandhi's funeral photo, taken on August 19, 2021 / )

The photo shows the Gandhi family -- including Rajiv, Sonia and their daughter Priyanka -- standing in front of the burning pyre of the former prime minister, as per the Hindu ritual of cremation. 

The caption to the photo states, "Indira Gandhi's son, Rajiv (2nd R), his wife Sonia (4th R) and their daughter Priyana [sic] (3rd R) watch the coffin of the slain Indian Prime Minister during the cremation ceremony 03 November 1984 in Shanti-Van. Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by two of her Sikh bodyguards 31 October 1984."

Her funeral can also be seen in this video posted on YouTube by Wilderness Films India, which also does not show scenes similar to the misleading images.

 AFP found no credible reports of Rajiv Gandhi offering Islamic prayers at this funeral.

The photo

A reverse image search on Yandex led to this tweet posted on January 27, 2016 by Mohsin Dawar, a politician in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, which contains the same photo. 

The caption reads, "Rajeev Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Narsihma Rao at Bacha Khan's funeral Pic from #BachakhanAwKhudaiKhidmatgari vol 2."

Narasimha Rao is another former prime minister of India.

Khan died on January 20, 1988, at the age of 98.

Rajiv Gandhi, along with his family and other leaders, went to Pakistan to pay their last respects, according to international news reports from the time including from The Washington Post and United Press International.

The same photo can also be seen here on the online forum website SkyscraperCity, posted December, 2016. 

The caption reads, "Bacha Khan's funeral in Peshawar."

Below is a comparison of the image shared on Facebook with the false claim (L) and the photo shared by Dawar on Twitter (R).

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Comparison of the image shared on Facebook with the false claim (L) and the photo shared by Dawar on Twitter (R)

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