Video from Germany aired by Zee News as farmers preparing for ‘war’ with tractors in India - Alt News
Kinjal
21st January 2021 / 6:29 pm / Last updated: 22nd January 2021
A video of a fleet of tractors adorned with twinkling lights has been making the rounds on social media. Several users are claiming that these visuals show farmers preparing for the upcoming tractor rally to be held on Republic Day. Zee News posted a clip from its January 19 broadcast on Facebook. The post was captioned, “Preparing for a war with tractors?” In this broadcast, the viral clip in question appears at the 3:52 mark.
“Why use such tractors of terror in the farmer protests? Are these tractors a means of waging war with the law? Are these farmers’ tractors or terror tractors? Think for yourself what kind of protest is being held in the name of the farmer protests where a tractor is loaded with cannons?… Is this their preparation for waging war against the country on the occasion of Republic Day in Delhi?… And now look at another video that has been going viral on social media…Here, the tractors have been decorated with lights so that on Republic Day, the world can see the opposition to the new farm laws and more anti-India propaganda spreads,” narrated the Zee News anchor. (Archive link)
‘ट्रैक्टर’ से युद्ध की तैयारी ?
‘ट्रैक्टर’ से युद्ध की तैयारी ?
#TractorTerror #FarmersProtest #RepublicDay
Posted by Zee News on Monday, January 18, 2021
A Facebook page titled ‘IT and Social Media Cell Congress’ posted the viral clip and wrote, “Preparations for the rally on Republic Day are in full swing!” It had racked up more than 14,000 views at the time of writing. (Archive link)
26 जनवरी परेड की झांकी की तैयारी जोरों से चल रही है !!
जय जवान – जय किसान
#किसान_नहीं_तो_देश_नहीं
Posted by I.T & Social Media Cell Congress on Monday, January 18, 2021
Pooja Chadha, associated with Congress, also shared the video and accompanying claim. (Archive link)
26 जनवरी परेड की झांकी
तेयारी जोरों से चल रही है 😍👇🏻😍
Posted by Pooja Chadha on Saturday, January 16, 2021
The video has also made its way to Twitter. It was uploaded on YouTube with the caption, “Long live farmer-laborer unity!”
26 जनवरी परेड की #झांकी
तैयारी जोरों से चल रही है 😍👇🏻😍@Iamarfat9 @BhagalSanju @reji_peter @IndiaAwakened_ @karnataka_inc @Devrnder18 @Haraprasad_ @SauravS_13 @abhi_mor1 pic.twitter.com/LCAvvH1WyN
— λνηιδh Jλιη🇮🇳 (@AvnishJainIND) January 17, 2021
Alt News performed a reverse image search using stills from the video. We found the original clip posted on Facebook on December 15, 2020. This is a longer version of the viral video. According to this post, the video shows a tractor rally held in Ireland during Christmas.
Christmas Tractor Run
They know how to turn it on in Ireland. Checkout this annual Christmas Tractor Run. #santasleigh #tractor #thispartyislit #10outof10
Posted by Delta Agribusiness on Tuesday, December 15, 2020
In the video posted by Delta Agribusiness, people can be heard talking in German. Taking this as a clue led to another Facebook post by RTNTV News which said that the video was shot on December 6 and shows a rally organized in Germany where tractors were decorated. This was a charity event organised for children with cancer.
Bunter Traktor-Konvoi fährt zur Kinderkrebs-Station des UKE
(rtn) Für den 2020er Nikolaustag haben Bäuerinnen und Bauern aus Schleswig-Holstein eine besondere Aktion geplant und durchgeführt. Ein beleuchteter Traktor-Konvoi sollte Kinderaugen zum Strahlen zu bringen Viele der üblichen Spendenaktionen fallen dieses Jahr coronabedingt aus. Daher war es eine gute Gelegenheit für die Landwirte in Schleswig-Holstein und Hamburg, mit einem festlichen Treckerumzug die Kinderaugen der kleinen Patienten der Kinder-Krebsstation im UKE Hamburg zum Leuchten zu bringen
In Stormarn konnte man die zum Teil aufwendig dekorierten Advents-Traktoren unter anderem in Eichede, Todendorf und Ahrensburg auf der Straße sehen. Zahlreich Anwohner freuten sich entlang der Strecke ebenfalls über die besondere Parade zum Nikolaustag.
„
Posted by rtntvnews on Sunday, 6 December 2020
A close examination reveals that the fleet of tractors in this video are the same. A comparison video has been attached below.
A car is visible towards the end in both videos. Its number plate – ‘OD JS 2525’.- can be clearly read in the RTNTV News video. OD represents Bad Oldesloei, Stormarn in northern Germany’s Schleswig-Holstein.
A few local media outlets in Germany reported on the event held on December 6, 2020. Furthermore, the viral video has also been shared by several people who wrote that it was shot in Germany.
AFP had published a fact-check report on the video which carries a statement of the manager of the transport company that owns the tractors seen in the clip. He confirmed that the video pertains to a charity event held on December 6, 2020 for children with cancer.
[Update: An earlier version of this fact-check erroneously reported that the video was shot in Ireland. Similar charity events are held in the country. This has been rectified.]
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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