{"id":83222,"date":"2020-12-26T13:04:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-26T07:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=83222"},"modified":"2020-12-26T13:04:08","modified_gmt":"2020-12-26T07:34:08","slug":"2015-images-of-bapu-surat-singh-shared-as-he-is-on-hunger-strike-for-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/2015-images-of-bapu-surat-singh-shared-as-he-is-on-hunger-strike-for-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo of Sikh activist on hunger strike in 2015 falsely linked to farmers’ protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

A picture of an emaciated elderly man lying on a cot has been shared on social media with users identifying him as Bapu Surat Singh. Claims suggest that he has been on a hunger strike in solidarity with the protesting farmers. Facebook page ‘K9media’, which has shared misinformation<\/a> several times in the past, posted this picture. (Archive link<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Another Facebook page named ‘Kanhaiya Kumar – Youthicon<\/a>‘ also shared the image and accompanying claim.<\/p>\n

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So did Facebook user Manojsinh Parmar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The photo is viral on Facebook with the Hindi hashtag #\u092c\u093e\u092a\u0942\u0938\u0942\u0930\u0924\u0938\u093f\u0902\u0939<\/a> (#BapuSuratSingh).<\/p>\n

Fact-check<\/strong><\/h4>\n

We performed a simple reverse image search and found a blog post from October 20, 2015<\/a>\u00a0carrying the image. The man was identified in the post as 82-year-old human rights activist Bapu Surat Singh who had been on a hunger strike for 277 days. He was demanding the immediate release of political prisoners from minority communities, including Sikhs, who were behind bars despite having served their full sentences.<\/p>\n

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A Facebook page titled \u2018Bapu Surat Singh Khalsa – Sangharsh Jaari Hai\u2019 shared this image on September 23, 2015<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sikh Relief – SOPW, a charity working for the civil rights of political prisoners, had also posted the image on their Facebook page on October 6, 2015<\/a>. It also shared a second picture<\/a> of the activist on September 21, 2015. According to the post, this picture was taken on the 250th day of his hunger strike.<\/p>\n