Video from farmers' protest shared as Nupur Sharma's arrest - Alt News
Abhishek Kumar
23rd June 2022 / 6:02 pm
BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has been “untraceable” since she issued her controversial public remarks on Prophet Muhammed. She skipped an appearance at Narkeldanga police station in Kolkata on Monday and later sought four weeks’ time.
Against this backdrop, a video of a woman’s arrest is making the rounds on social media with the claim that Sharma was arrested.
हमारे प्यारे नबी की शान में गुस्ताखी करने वाली नूपुर शर्मा आखिरकार गिरफ्तार हो ही गई पर ज्यादा से ज्यादा 15 या 20 दिन हवालात में रहेगी और वह भी ऐसी वाले रूम में pic.twitter.com/xU7JfWlSpu
— Abdul Rahman@)7900 (@RahmanR41753986) June 20, 2022
User Amjad Ali made the same claim while tweeting the video. (Archive link)
A Facebook page named ‘Digital TV‘ also amplified the video with the same claim. At the time of writing, the video had amassed over 4.5 lakh views.
Alt News received several requests on its WhatsApp number +917600011160 to investigate the video. The viral visuals are being circulated on Twitter and Facebook with the same claim.
Alt News performed a keyword search on Twitter to gather more information on the video. We found a tweet posted by Bhagwant Singh Rupal, a journalist from the Punjabi daily ‘Rozana Spokesman’. He wrote that the video does not feature Nupur Sharma but Bhumi Birmi, while tweeting a link to the original video posted on Birmi’s Facebook profile on June 15.
She Is Not Nupur Sharma.. She Is Bhumi Birmi…. And This Video Is Old Too..
Sharing Original Video Link:https://t.co/4zFXaWFv3c#FactCheck #NupurSharma #FactsMatter https://t.co/fOCIBkkBuS
— Bhagwant Singh Rupal (@iambhagwant16) June 21, 2022
Upon further examination of her Facebook account, we found a few more videos posted on June 15 depicting scenes of clashes with the police.
In her Facebook introduction (intro), Birmi has described herself as the District President of the Women’s Wing of the Indian Farmers Union in Rajasthan’s Churu district. Another Google search led us to a June 16 report by ABP News. According to the article, farmers in Churu, Rajasthan were staging a dharna with a 20-point list of demands. Birmi also addressed the gathering at the dharna. On June 15, farmers held a fierce protest at the subdivision office of Churu’s Taranagar assembly constituency. Angry protesters also tried to break through the police barricades. According to ABP News, the women involved in the agitation were beaten by the female police officers with sticks.
Alt News reached out to Bhumi Birmi, who confirmed that she was the woman in the viral video. She also verified that the video was taken during the June 15 demonstration at Taranagar, located in Rajasthan’s Churu district.
Scenes from the viral video appear in a video aired by ‘First India News’. However, this one was recorded from another angle.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLRaSUG6LK8]
To sum it up, a video of clashes in Rajasthan between farmer collectives and police was falsely shared as Nupur Sharma’s arrest.
Abhishek is a senior fact-checking journalist and researcher at Alt News. He has a keen interest in information verification and technology. He is always eager to learn new skills, explore new OSINT tools and techniques. Prior to joining Alt News, he worked in the field of content development and analysis with a major focus on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
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