A video of a man with a turban blackening the Hindi text on a sign is circulating on social media claiming it comes from Punjab, and the actual agenda of the farmers’ protest is to bring Hindi and Hindus against to stand.
The text “NORTH ZONE CULTURAL CENTER” is written in English and Punjabi on the sign. But it is seen that the man puts black paint on the Hindi text.
A video of a man with a turban blackening the Hindi text on a sign circulates on social media, claiming it comes from Punjab where protesters oppose the Hindi language in the background of farmers’ agitation . The demand further states that the real agenda of the protest of farmers is to oppose Hindi and Hindus.
The text “NORTH ZONE CULTURAL CENTER” is written in English and Punjabi on the sign. But it is seen that the man puts black paint on the Hindi text.
The caption in Hindi and the video translates into: ‘The true face is finally revealed. After the towers are damaged, the use of Hindi is not allowed in Punjab. Farmers’ movement is an excuse; the real motive is to oppose Hindi and Hindus. Is this the reality of farmers’ protests? This is the Khalistani movement; terrorists and their sympathizers disguised as farmers. Their agenda is to spread anarchy, overthrow the Modi government and put ordinary people in trouble. ”
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found that the claim along with the video was false. The video is at least two years old and comes from Punjab’s Patiala. It has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protest.
The video was widely shared on Facebook and Twitter. The archived version can be seen here.
AFWA investigation
With the reverse search of Yandex, we found that the viral video was uploaded to YouTube in February 2019.
AFWA takes note of the sign and finds that the Northern Zone Cultural Center (NZCC), which falls under the Ministry of Culture of the Union, is located in Patiala. We have the NZCC director, prof. Saubhagya Vardhan, reached out to find out more about the video and the incident.
Prof Vardhan confirmed that the incident took place at NZCC about two years ago. He said the person had blackened the Hindi text during a campaign on the Chandigarh-Bathinda belt in which protesters had blackened Hindi texts on signs.
However, Prof Vardhan could not confirm the identity of the man seen in the video.
On January 9, AFWA did the same fact checking on some photos showing people shading the Hindi text away from traffic signs. Here, too, it is alleged that it took place in Punjab during the peasant protest.
We found that the photos were clicked in October 2017 when some Sikh groups smeared signs on the Bathinda-Faridkot road to have Punjabi language on top of the signs.
(With input from Munish Kaushal in Patiala)
ClaimThe video of Sikhs placing black paint on Hindi boards exposes the real agenda of farmers’ protests. Khalistanis, under the cover of the peasant movement, has only one agenda – to oppose Hindi and Hindus.ClosureThe video was recorded at least two years ago at the North Zone Cultural Center in Punjab’s Patiala during a campaign against ‘imposition of Hindi’. It has nothing to do with the ongoing farmers’ protest.
JHOOTH BOLE KAUVA KAATE
The number of crows determines the intensity of the lie.
- 1 Crow: Half true
- 2 crows: mostly lies
- 3 crows: absolutely false
