BJP MLA Himanta Biswa posts cropped photo of anti-CAA rally in Assam to portray poor turnout

by Jignesh Patel

On January 10, 2020, Assam BJP minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted an image where a crowd gathered at an anti-CAA rally was compared with the one at a pro-CAA rally in Dhemaji, Assam. “here are 2 Dhemaji pictures that sum up the mood in Assam. Need I say more?”, said Sarma while tweeting the image. Sarma attended to portray a much larger gathering at the pro-CAA rally,

Cropped image of anti-CAA rally

Alt News found that the image of the anti-CAA protest organized in Dhemaji is misleading. A video of the rally organized by All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on January 9, 2020, clearly depicts that the picture used in the comparison by Sarma shows a smaller crowd than in reality. Below is a drone video of the rally tweeted by Assam journalist Atanu Bhuyan.

Twitter user Sanjib Gogoi also posted an image that gives an aerial view of the rally in Dhemaji, Assam.

In the comparison below, a drone’s eye view of the anti-CAA rally is compared with the image shared by Sarma on Twitter.

This can also be corroborated with pictures tweeted by Lurinjyoti Gogoi, the General Secretary of AASU.

Several other pictures taken from a different angle give a better view of the mass gathering at the anti-CAA rally.

In conclusion, Himanta Biswa Sarma misleadingly compared a cropped image of an anti-CAA rally with a pro-CAA rally to portray mass support for the newly enacted Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019.

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About the Author

Jignesh is a writer and researcher at Alt News. He has a knack for visual investigation with a major interest in fact-checking videos and images. He has completed his Masters in Journalism from Gujarat University.