Farmers have been protesting against the central government’s agricultural ordinances for months now. Several were injured in a confrontation between police and farmers on September 10 in Pipli, Haryana. Former cricketer and Congress leader Kirti Azad tweeted a set of four images, writing, “Did you see this on the news channel today? Do you know who these people are? No? Do you know that they were stopped near the Delhi border? These are our providers. These farmers who provide us food were stopped at the Delhi border. If you have any sympathy for them, share this widely on social media.” His post had been retweeted 300 times at the time of writing. (Archive link)
क्या आपने आज न्यूज़ चैनल पर इसे देखा?
आप जानते हैं ये कौन है?
नहीं??
क्या आप जानते हैं कि दिल्ली के बॉर्डर पर इनको रोका गया?
यह है हमारे अन्नदाता।
अन्नदाता किसान जो दिल्ली के बॉर्डर पर रोक दिए गए।
इनके लिए संवेदना है तो सोशल मीडिया पर फैला दीजिए #RepublicGhatiyaChannelHai pic.twitter.com/ACS6dDFTmI— Kirti Azad (@KirtiAzaad) September 11, 2020
Twitter user @aren_anika also shared one of these images and wrote that it was from the Kisan Bachao rally. (Archive link)
#pipli #किसान_बचाओ_मंडी_बचाओ लाठी चार्ज और कई किसानों को गिरफ़्तार किया , कई को सिर पर चोट आयी, सह लेंगे लेकिन देश की खेती, विविधता और फसलों के दाम पर प्रहार सहना मंज़ूर नहीं! @rtiRakeshKumar @Gurnam987 pic.twitter.com/ZvC62W3Kup
— Anika Aren (@aren_anika) September 10, 2020
A number of Facebook users also shared these images. Bharatiya Kisan union chief Gurnam Singh Charuni wrote, “A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the farmers collectives and farmers that joined the Pipli Kisan Bachao Mandi Bachao mega rally.” This post has been shared more than 2,500 times.
अभी तो ली अंगड़ाई है
आगे और लड़ाई है
पिपली किसान बचाओ मंडी बचाओ महारैली में पहुंचने वाले सभी संगठनों किसानों और किसान पुत्रों को तहे दिल से धन्यवाद
लड़ेंगे जीतेंगेPosted by Gurnam Singh Charuni on Thursday, 10 September 2020
Similarly, a few other Facebook users also shared the viral image and described it as Haryana.
Fact-check
Alt News found that two out of four images are old and do not represent the recent farmers protest in Pipli.
Image 1
When we did a reverse image search of this picture, we came across various memes and video links, along with a few news reports and videos. One of these was a September 2014 report by the news platform Entertainment Tonight (ET), which stated that the girl seen in the picture is Michaela Goetze.
Image 2
A reverse image search of this picture led us to a 2017 report by Rajasthan Patrika. According to this article, this photo shows a dead body carried in a funeral procession by farmers protesting against the Rajasthan government. Farmers in Rajasthan’s Sikri had staged a demonstration which also included hundreds of women.
The other two images were found in a September 10 report by Gaon Connection on Pipli farmers protest. Author Mithilesh Das confirmed to Alt News that the pictures are recent.
Thus old photographs of farmers protest were shared with images representing the recent agitation in Haryana.
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