School children brave waist-high floodwater to celebrate Indian Independence Day

These patriotic schoolchildren didn’t let waist-high floodwater stop them from celebrating Indian Independence Day.

A photo of the children and men standing in floodwater and saluting their country’s flag on August 15 has been a hit on social media.

It was posted on Facebook by Mizanur Rahman, a teaching assistant who says it was taken at the Naskara LP School in the state of Assam.

“No need to tell how we are right now, pic will tell all the stories,” he wrote.

More than 90,000 people have shared the Facebook post, with Rahman adding: “I did not expect this kind of support....thank you all for sharing this picture.”

He told the Times of India: “We hoisted the tricolour and sang the national anthem as we are proud to observe the freedom of our nation.”

However a critic on Twitter responded to the photo: “4 people, most probably poor, stand in floodwater in a state the rest of India ignores. Not a picture to be proud of.”

Heavy monsoon rains in Nepal, Bangladesh and India have killed more than 200 people in the last week. At least 15 people have been killed in Assam.

India celebrated 70 years of independence this week, to mark the anniversary of when Partition came into effect and British India divided into two new, independent countries: India and Pakistan.