Old, unrelated photo shared as farmers protesting revocation of Article 370

In the last week on November, thousands of farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh began their march towards the national capital in protests against new farm bills introduced by the Centre in September.

In the backdrop of this several social media users have posted an image of Sikh men holding a poster against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

किसान चाहते हैं कि कश्मीर में अनुच्छेद 370/”35″A को बहाल किया जाए pic.twitter.com/qedhx1aoDf

— Pushpendra Kulshreshtha (@ThePushpendra_) November 30, 2020

“Farmers want article 370 and 35A to restored in Kashmir,” reads the viral message. Article 370 was abolished by the Modi government in August last year which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir. Article 35A which empowered the J&K legislature to define the state’s permanent residents and their special rights and privilege was also revoked.

BJP supporter Shefali Vaidya tweeted the image and wrote, “What kind of farmers are these? Who call @ImranKhanPTI as their brother, refuse to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai and want to restore article 370?” This was retweeted over 1,500 times. In the past, Alt News has documented multiple instances of misinformation put out by Vaidya. (archived link)

What kind of farmers are these? Who call @ImranKhanPTI as their brother, refuse to say Bharat Mata Ki Jai and want to restore article 370? pic.twitter.com/clvIvpY7dT

— Shefali Vaidya. (@ShefVaidya) November 30, 2020

Facebook page ‘Support Modi Ji and BJP‘ with over six lakh followers also posted this image. It was shared over 600 times. (archived link)

This image was also tweeted by @ExSecular gaining over 1,500 retweets. Despite sharing misinformation frequently in the past, @ExSecular is followed by Prime Minister Modi. (archived link)

Farmers want article 370 and 35A to restored in Kashmir .. pic.twitter.com/Cs4qLE7RcG

— Exsecular (@ExSecular) November 30, 2020

Old, unrelated image

This image was posted in August 2019 by Shiromani Akali Dal Amritsar or SAD(A), a splinter group of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) which has advocated for the formation of a separate Sikh state of Khalistan many times. As per the banner, the men are protesting against the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and UAPA.

SAD(A) has been vocal in its opposition to the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370. On the occasion of human rights day on December 10, 2019, it held a dharna in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. “We are upset with what is happening in Kashmir. The voices of Kashmiris have been suppressed. Neither the Supreme Court nor the press have done enough to make their voices heard. We will protest in solidarity with the people of Kashmir,” Simranjit Singh Mann was quoted by The Quint in a September 22, 2019 report.

Therefore a year-old image was shared with the false claim that farmers held placards in favour of restoring Article 370 and 35A in Kashmir.